


Future History

by TalkMagically



Category: NCIS
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:53:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 46,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7849447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalkMagically/pseuds/TalkMagically
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old friend of Tim's makes a surprise visit to the Bull Pen. However, Tim's not the only one who's surprised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surprise Visit

A marine stepped off the elevator with a small smile of anticipation as his escort lead him to the Bull Pen.

"Here you go, Gunnery Sergeant." The escort's declaration gained the attention of the three team members sitting at their desks.

"Thank you, sir." The Gunnery Sergeant replied as he adjusted the strap of his duffel. The escort nodded in acknowledgment before turning and leaving.

"Can I help you, Gunnery Sergeant?" The man turned to the waiting face of Tony DiNozzo, glancing briefly in the directions of Ziva David and Jethro Gibbs.

"This is the MCRT work area, correct?" Tony exchanged a look with Ziva.

"Yes, it is."

"Then I don't need any help. I'm exactly where I need to be." The duffel dropped to the floor as the man shrugged the strap off his shoulder. "I'm here to see Special Agent Timothy McGee."

"He is down with our Forensic Scientist. I can call and let him know you are." Ziva offered.

"Oh, don't do that." The man insisted. "He doesn't know about me coming here. I want it to be a surprise. It's why I didn't tell him I was coming home early."

"You just got back state side?" Tony asked rhetorically. "Congrats. I bet you're glad to be back home."

"Very much, sir." The man grinned. "I missed being home. And if I'm lucky, I get to stay here."

"Well, I hope you get that. You certainly deserve it." Gibbs spoke up. The mystery guest's smile grew as he nodded in agreement.

"McGee never told us he was friends with a marine." Tony began, trailing off.

"We were roommates at MIT. When he went on to Johns Hopkins, I joined the Corps."

"Sense of patriotic duty?" Ziva inquired.

"In a way." The man admitted. "Like Tim, I come from a military family. I merely decided to keep up the family tradition, like my brothers."

"How very loyal of you." Tony continued. "I'm Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, she's Special Agent Ziva David, and our boss over there is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs."

"Gunnery Sergeant Dimitri Petroviak. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all. Tim has told me a lot about you. Made for some interesting letters and emails." Irritated expressions appeared on Tony and Ziva's faces at the thought of McGee talking about them without their knowledge.

"Petroviak. Any relation to the Senator?" Gibbs asked, recognizing the name.

"He's my father." Dimitri confirmed. "I try not to let people find out about that, if I can prevent it. Keeps them from automatically thinking I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth."

"I can relate to that." Tony muttered under his breath, gaining Dimitri's attention.

"So... _you_ are Tony." The man in question froze at Dimitri's slightly accusatory tone, thinking over every prank he had ever played on McGee.

"Yes." Came the hesitant answer.

"The McNicknames stop, got it?"

"Yep, sure, no problem." Tony couldn't get out fast enough. Dimitri held his hard look for a few seconds before dropping it and smiling, showing Tony he wasn't being too serious.

"Great. I laid claim to getting to call Tim those our first year at MIT and, as all my exes will tell you, I'm a jealous and territorial man." Ziva snickered at Tony's embarrassed discomfort. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she heard the ding of the back elevator opening.

"Gibbs, it's exceedingly boring today! Why is it so boring?" Abby called out before she was in view.

"Sorry, Boss. I could only entertain her for so long before she lost interest." Tim explained with a laugh.

"McPet!" Dimitri declared loudly in the same moment that Tim and Abby noticed that there was a visitor. It took Tim's brain half a second to register what he heard and who he was looking at.

"Dimitri!" Tim shot across the Bull Pen faster than his coworkers realized he could move, nearly tackling the black haired man with a hug that put Abby's to shame. Dimitri laughed as he braced them against falling and hugged Tim back.

"I'm happy to see you, too, Tim." Dimitri said through a chuckle.

"You're home." Tim pulled away to state the obvious. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home? I would have asked for off. I could have come and picked you up at the airport."

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn't even tell the girls I was coming home." As Dimitri explained himself, Tim eyed the bag on the floor.

"You came straight here."

"Well, yeah." A semi-frown appeared on Tim's face.

"Why didn't you go see Deidre and and Tabitha first? They're your daughters." Dimitri gave Tim a look that said his reason for doing that should be obvious.

"Hey, McGee." Abby interrupted at the first chance she got. "Are we gonna get an introduction any time this century?"

Tim spun around to look at her as he finally remembered that he was at work, his coworkers could see and hear everything, and went slightly pink in the face.

"Uhhh...Dimitri, these are my coworkers Tony, Ziva, Gibbs, and Abby. I know I've told you a lot about them. Everyone, this is Dimitri Petroviak. He's my roommate from MIT." Dimitri smiled at Abby in greeting as Tim formally introduced him.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, ma'am. The others and I have already made our introductions."

"McGee hasn't told me a single thing about you." Abby replied with a semi-pout, prompting an eye roll from Tim.

"I'm quickly learning that he doesn't talk about me much." Dimitri answered with a solemn nod. "Why the secrecy, Tim? Are you ashamed of me or something?"

"No, I'm not." Tim insisted with a sigh he normally reserved for Tony when the Senior Agent was acting like a child. "But there are some people I wouldn't trust you to be alone with. Particularly Tony."

"Hey! I resent that." Tony objected. Gibbs shook his head and returned to his work, tolerating the scene for now. As Abby had pointed out, the team didn't have much to do at the moment.

"You wound me, Tim." Dimitri put a hand over his heart. "I thought I was a very trustworthy person."

"Not with these people." Tim shot back.

"Why did you call him 'McPet'?" Ziva asked, diverting the banter. Tim froze in horror, the blood draining from his face before rushing back to make it a deep red. His eyes thinned out in a murderous glare while Dimitri grinned at him evilly, clearly enjoying the dark blush on his face.

"Now, Miss Ziva, _that_ would be a prime example of why Timothy here doesn't trust me with any of you."

"Dimitri Nikolai Petroviak, don't you _dare_." Tim hissed.

"Oooo! Now I really want to know." Tony exclaimed, moving to the edge of his seat. Glancing at Tony briefly, Tim held his glare on Dimitri before the man hung his head in defeat.

" _Fine_." He conceded with a pout. "I won't tell them anything. But I reserve the right to try and embarrass you as much as possible with information they already know about you."

"Good luck with that."

"I accept that challenge." Dimitri muttered, zoning in on an amused looking Abby. "So, Miss Abby, Tim has told me you two dated briefly."

"Goddamnit, Dimitri..." Tim turned to go sit at his desk. Abby nodded slightly before answering.

"Yes. Before he transferred here from Norfolk. You know, now that I think about it, that was a while ago. I'm just happy we remained so close. I guess that most of that is Tim. He's such a nice guy. I'm not as close with other guys I've dated as I am with Tim. He really is just as loyal and cuddly as a puppy!"

Tim groaned loudly, letting his head fall to his desk with a thunk. Dimitri shook with silent laughter as he struggled to keep track of what Abby was saying in high speed. Tony and Ziva weren't quite as nice, laughing out loud.

"That he is." Dimitri agreed with a smirk. "Tell me, does Tim still have the 'Mom' tattoo on his ass?"

"Dimitri!" Tim lifted his head to look at the marine in shock, his teammates going silent with wide eyes. They had not expected that.

"...yeah. How did you...?" Abby managed to get out.

"Let's just say I had a lot of fun getting Tim drunk on his 21st birthday. Guy can, surprisingly, hold his liquor. It took me a while to get him drunk enough to agree to nearly anything."

"Yeah. Some friend you were." Tim snapped, trying to ignore the look Tony was giving him. "I had a hard time explaining to my teachers the next day why I couldn't sit properly."

"Pish posh. It was a right of passage, Tim." Tim did a double take, shaking his head.

"Did you seriously just use the phrase 'pish posh'?"

"Yes. Silver spoon and all." Dimitri returned sarcastically. "It's hard for me to hide my 'better than thou' upbringing."

"Why did Kate marry you again?" A scruched up look appeared on Tim's face.

"I got her pregnant. It didn't last long, though, remember? Only a year and a half." Tim nodded before pausing, a smirk growing on his face.

"Guess you marines just can't handle being married to a red-head." He retorted. It pulled a laugh out of Dimitri while Tony, Ziva, and Abby openly gaped at him having the guts to say that in front of Gibbs. Gibbs, meanwhile, paused in his work and waited for Dimitri's response.

"To tame a red-head would be man's greatest achievement, Tim. And I, unfortunately, am apparently not man enough to do it. You, on the other hand, had her sister wrapped around your little finger. Why didn't you go for it?" Gibbs nodded in agreement to Dimitri's comment as he went back to work. Tim let out a heavy sigh.

"You know why." Tim glanced at Abby before returning his attention to Dimitri. "Not my type. I prefer the black haired ones."

"True! Cindy Belaford dyed her hair black to try and get you into bed, didn't she?" Tony's eyes grew wider as he absorbed every little detail the two men in front of him were revealing about McGee.

"Pity her _boyfriend_ wasn't all that into her doing that." Tim leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing. He caught Tony's expression in the corner of his eye. "Now that we've nearly sent Tony into a fit, have you gotten everything you wanted out of your surprise visit?"

The three eavesdroppers were openly disappointed that Tim was cutting Dimitri's visit short.

"Yep! Saw you, let you know that I'm home now, and finally got the meet the people you've told me so much about. I think that's everything. Unless you want to banter some more and reveal more details about yourself." Tim snorted but chose to ignore that last pot shot.

"How did you get here and where are you staying? Need a ride?" Dimitri shook his head as he picked his bag back up.

"My rental is out in the parking lot. I only brought my bag in because I have some paperwork that I can't be separated from at the moment."

"Alright." Tim stood up and pulled Dimitri into another hug, only not as enthusiastic as before. "You know my address, you know my cell number, you know my email. Let me know when you want to escape your family's clutches. I'll come rescue you."

"You show up at the estate, Tim, and my mother will never let you leave." Tim let out a chuckle.

"Probably, but I'll take that risk. Your brothers will help me escape."

"Or they'll tie you down to keep you there. I swear they prefer you over me, sometimes." Tim gave Dimitri an innocent smile, staying silent. Dimitri scoffed at it. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't push it, Moth Boy. I'm still around all-too-willing ears."

"Play dirty, Dimitri, and I'll bring you down with me. And ultimately my blackmail is more embarrassing." Dimitri hissed at Tim's statement, frowning.

"I hate it when you're right. Alright, I better get going if I want to get to the estate before my parents get home from doing whatever it is they're doing today."

"Give your mom a hug for me!" Tim gave Dimitri one last pat on the shoulder before his friend nodded farewell to them all and headed to the elevators. As soon as the doors closed Tim started to count to ten. He made it to two when Tony, Ziva, and Abby all turned on him.

"McGee!" Abby whined. "How come you never told any of us that you were friends with a marine?"

"You got your tattoo before we even met you?" Tony exclaimed, sounding scandalized.

"Why did he call you 'McPet'?" Ziva asked again with an expectant look on her face. Tim looked at all three of them in turn. A smirk formed on his face as he made his decision to turn to Gibbs.

"Sorry about the marine comment, Boss. You gotta go for the throat when bickering with Dimitri otherwise you won't survive it."

"It's fine, McGee." Gibbs never looked up. "Your friend's come back made up for it."

Happy he wasn't in trouble, Tim sat back down at his desk. The others continued to stare at him, wanting answers. It didn't take long for Tim to sigh in defeat.

"Abby, I have many friends you guys don't know about. Most of them are from school. I have little reason to introduce you to many of them."

"And your tattoo?" Tony insisted.

"When I told you about it, Tony, you assumed I had gotten it recently and got it to impress Abby. I simply didn't correct you. Considering what I was like back then, are you really surprised by my choice?" Tony opened his mouth to reply but couldn't find a suitable response.

"McPet?" Ziva asked a third time with a patient look on her face. A slight blush appeared on Tim's face as he figured out a way to answer her.

"It's a combination of my and Dimitri's last name. During our second year at MIT, he moved out of the dorms to a house just off campus shortly after he split up with his wife. Small benefit of him coming from money. Anyway, he decided to drag me along with him because he didn't want to live alone and I was the only one of his friends who Kate, his ex, could stand. His choice of roommate played a major part in the custody arrangement for his daughters." Tim explained. "After a while, our friends started calling it the 'McPet Household' every time they came over because it looked nothing like the average home of two college students. Dimitri found the name hilarious and started calling me McPet because I'm the more...domestic of the two of us despite him being the one who got married and had kids first."

"Understandable. You do seem to exude feelings of welcome and understanding." Ziva conceded. Tim scrunched his face up at the description but remained silent. He wouldn't win that argument.

"And you couldn't just say that when your friend was still here?" Abby pointed out.

"Nope. Dimitri can be truly evil when he wants to be. Not to mention his lewdness can make even Tony blush when he gets going. I wasn't about to unleash that here. With my luck, the Director would have came down here in the middle of one of Dimitri's innuendos."

"He probably would have." Tony laughed at the thought of Vance walking in on someone making dirty jokes in the Bull Pen. He opened his mouth to poke fun at Tim's usual misfortunes with timing when Gibbs' phone rang. The team looked on in anticipation.

"Gear up. Body at Rock Creek Park." Taking advantage of the fact that the others couldn't ask any more questions at the moment, Tim rushed to collect his gear.


	2. Comparisons

"It certainly explains how you are able to tolerate Tony with so little effort." Ziva commented randomly. Tim looked up from his desk, pushing his lamp aside slightly to get a clear view of Ziva. The two of them were the only ones in the Bull Pen.

"Excuse me?" Tim asked in confusion. He probably should know what Ziva was talking about right away, but it was well after sundown and they'd been having a difficult time with their latest lead on the case.

"Your friend. The one who visited this morning."

"Dimitri?" Ziva nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. He may not have been here long enough for the others to see it, but it seemed clear to me that he and Tony have similar personalities. It explains how you are able to deal with Tony so easily. You are, as the saying goes, inoculated against him." Tim bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't had that very same thought before, but he wasn't going to openly admit it just yet.

"Well, he's not _only_ like Tony. Dimitri is a bit like me and Gibbs, too. He just didn't show it during his visit." Tim insisted.

"I will admit that it obviously takes more than one meeting to fully understand someone's personality, but your friend has definitely got to be more like Tony than you and Gibbs." Tim's inner investigator started waving a red flag.

"Ziva, why do you keep on saying that Dimitri and Tony are alike? I lived with one and I consider the other like an older brother. I _know_ they're alike." Tim gave Ziva what Tony and Abby called his McEyebrow. Ziva became a bit flustered, apparently unsure of how to word what she was really trying to say.

"It's just...McGee, it seemed to me like your friend was flirting with you all throughout his visit." Tim blinked a few times.

"I know he was." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and turned his attention back to work. Ziva's eyes widened at Tim's carefree attitude about his friend's actions.

"McGee. He was _flirting_." Ziva said the word slowly, as if talking with a child.

"I _know_." Tim replied in kind, not taking his eyes off his computer screen.

"And you are ok with that?" That made Tim turn his attention back to Ziva with another McEyebrow. "That is not what I meant. I know you are open-minded when it comes to people's sexualities. But he is your friend and you two are clearly very close. I would be quite uncomfortable if you or Abby flirted with me in such a manner."

"But not Tony?" Tim couldn't help commenting. He raised his hands in surrender when the Israeli woman sent a glare his direction, letting out a chuckle as he eyed her office supplies. "Ok, wrong thing to ask."

"McGee, seriously." Ziva scolded him, sour look still on her face from his question. Tim sighed and paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"Ziva, the only reason I'm telling you this is because Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed. Dimitri is bisexual. He flirts with _everyone_ , regardless of their gender. I would be more worried if he didn't flirt because then that means something's wrong. He won't flirt if he's angry or doesn't like you. And since I know he likes me, a lack of flirting would have only meant the other. I wouldn't have been so willing to introduce him to you all if he had been mad at me for some reason. His anger can be very...Gibbs-esque."

"So you gauge his mood by how much he flirts with you?" Ziva questioned in a disbelieving tone. Tim shrugged.

"I'm not the only one. Our entire group of friends at MIT did it as well. And, if my assumption is correct, his ex-wife still does it, too."

"He flirts with his ex-wife? By how Tony goes on about them, that doesn't sound like normal behavior between exes." Tim laughed with a shake of his head.

"Dimitri and Kate's divorce wasn't a bad one. They realized that getting married simply because Kate got pregnant was a foolish decision and split up. They may joke about going after each other's throats all the time but they don't really mean it. They interact a lot like Tony and Abby do."

"So much comparison. It's making my head hurt." Ziva muttered, pulling a laugh out of Tim.

"You started it."

"That is not the point." Ziva shot back. Tim conceded to the meaning of Ziva's complaint.

"Ok, yeah. I get what you're saying. I'm making a lot of comparisons to get you to see that Dimitri's not _only_ like Tony. I'll have to figure out a different way to explain his various personality quirks."

"Or you could just start bringing him to team nights and let us learn for ourselves." Ziva suddenly offered with a too-innocent expression on her face. That red flag went flying again in Tim's mind but it was a redundancy. He knew that expression, even if he last saw it on a different face.

"How long did Abby rant earlier when you dropped off our evidence?" Tim asked bluntly.

"She went on about your friend for some time." Ziva admitted with a slightly sheepish look. "When I had to return up here to work, she simply turned her ramblings to Bert."

"That sounds about right." Tim tapped a button on his keyboard, simultaneously punctuating his comment and continuing a computer search.

"But will you? Start bringing your friend around, I mean?" Tim thought over Ziva's question. It was something he would definitely have to consider, now that they all were formally introduced. Dimitri would push for it, as well, if only to weasel his way into getting embarrassing stories out of everyone. Another personality trait he, unfortunately, shared with Tony.

"I'll speak with Dimitri about it." Tim replied. "I don't know how quickly he wants to jump back into the social scene. He may want to spend some one-on-one time with his daughters before returning to his usual habits."

"Quite understandable." Ziva smiled at Tim's surrender to her and Abby's request, the tone of the conversation taking a turn towards 'finished' as she returned to work. Shaking his head in amusement at his friends' antics, Tim turned back to his own computer to do some more lead hunting. They all would quickly learn that Dimitri was more of a hellion than his actions during his visit let on. Tim would simply let himself 'forget' to warn them all about it.

* * *

"Abby, I already told Ziva yes." Tim called out before as he approached his apartment door. Needless to say, he was shocked to open it and not see the Goth. "Tony?"

"What did the evil twins ask of you?" The Italian man asked as he walked past Tim into the apartment carrying two large pizzas and a six pack of bottled soda, which explained why he didn't pick the lock to get in. Tim simply closed the door and locked it again. He accepted long ago that he wasn't going to win an argument about nightly plans if his gregarious partner came bearing gifts.

"They want me to ask Dimitri to come to a few team nights." Tim explained, watching Tony go through the motions of pulling out plates and glasses. That was the agreement they silently came to in the past few years. If Tony was going to bring over pizza and soda, they were going to use plates and glasses. Tony was originally appalled by the mere idea of using plates to eat pizza but he conceded after the first few visits when Tim refused to eat out of the box.

"They were quick." A carbonated hiss filled the air as Tony opened the first bottle of soda, splitting the tall bottle between the two glasses he pulled out.

"I'm not surprised." Tim admitted. He pulled two stools from their place against the wall and set them on either side of the counter that divided his kitchen from his primary work area. "After Dimitri's little show, I had expected at least one of you to demand to see more of him."

"Can you blame us, McGee? Out of everyone on the team, you're the one who's most secretive about his past. It took us meeting Sarah to learn a few basic things that the rest of us, even Gibbs, shared freely." Tim had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. It wasn't that he did it purposely. The team just never had that many cases that would cause him to share details about himself. Instead of responding to the jab, though, Tim opened the first pizza box and plated two slices for each of them.

"Obviously Abby and Ziva beat you to the punch, making your original intentions for coming here pointless. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?" Tony nodded around a mouthful of Meat Lovers, taking a drink to clear his throat after swallowing.

"I got a whole Abby lecture earlier about how your friend and I are _so_ alike." Tim groaned, dropping the slice he was holding back onto his plate.

"Ziva and I covered that before she made her request. Please don't make me have that discussion again." He begged. Tony snorted, taking another bite.

"Just saying. I could see some similarities, but not to the extend Abby ranted about. Sure, we make a sport out of teasing you and creating McNicknames, which I'm apparently not allowed to use anymore, but that's it. Is there something I'm missing?" Of course Tony would ignore the pleading, but something he said made Tim look up at him in confusion.

"Huh? Since when aren't you allowed to use McNicknames anymore? That's, like, the primary way we interact at work."

"Dimitri said he laid claim to calling you those back in college. I wasn't entirely sure if he was joking when he told me to stop and I'm not that willing to find out."

"He was joking..." Tim assured Tony, pinching the bridge of his nose. One thing was for sure. Dimitri and Tony in a social situation was going to be interesting to see.

"Well, alright. But I'm blaming you if you turn into a McLiar and my ass gets kicked."

"That won't happen." Tim rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I know you and he were roommates at MIT but your friend definitely doesn't seem like the type you would've hung out with. I got 'athlete' vibes off of him this morning." Tim let out a bark of a laugh at Tony's breakdown of Dimitri, getting a slightly confused look in return. Tim was suddenly glad neither Ziva or Abby were around.

"Dimitri was a football player at MIT. He claimed it was stress reducing, being able to actually tackle someone and not get in trouble for it. Which leads me to warn you not to be surprised if you hear Dimitri call me Beaver Boy."

" _Beaver Boy_?" Tony asked in skeptical tone. Tim nodded slowly, another slight blush appearing on his face.

"MIT's mascot is Tim the Beaver. I didn't _play_ any sports, so Dimitri and our other friends referred to me as their personal mascot since I would always attend their games in support. They started calling me Beaver Boy because of that. It's...a nickname that obvious stems from the minds of college students."

"Obviously." Tony replied with a hint of sarcasm, trying not to laugh out loud. "I look forward to you explaining that to the others when Dimitri eventually _does_ call you that."

Frowning, Tim picked a pepperoni off one of his slices and tossed it at Tony.


	3. Making Plans

Tim sat up with a start at the ringing of his cell phone. He glanced at his clock, noting that his alarm was set to go off in just under ten minutes as he reached for his cell. He answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" He muttered sleepily. His free hand reached to turn off his alarm as he fell back onto his pillows.

"That offer of rescue still open?" Was the reply. No greeting, no announcing who it was, just the question. It took Tim's brain a few seconds longer than usual to register the question then recognize the voice of who was asking.

"Dimitri, please tell me you didn't wait all night to call me and ask that." A slight hesitation on the other end of the line told Tim his guess was right on the spot. "Thanks for being considerate and letting me sleep, but I would have been more than happy to come pick you up last night."

"No. I know your job is hectic. Sleep is a luxury. I waited because I figured now would be about the time you'd be getting up." Dimitri defended his choice. Sensing this conversation wasn't going to end quickly, Tim gave in to wakefulness and threw his sheet aside to get up.

"Good guess. My alarm was set to go off in ten minutes." Tim let out a yawn as he entered his kitchen and started to go through the motions of making a cold breakfast. "You didn't last a full 24 hours back home before calling for reinforcements. What happened?"

"Everyone was more than excited to see me. The girls both shrieked my and their mother's ears into uselessness for a few minutes. If Mom was their age, she probably would have done the same thing." Dimitri summarized everyone's reactions while not quite answering the question.

"But?" Tim pushed.

"I _completely_ forgot to take my parents' schedules into consideration. They're going to be holding at least one event a week here at the estate for the next month or so." Dimitri admitted in a weary tone.

"Oh." Tim was still half-asleep and therefore was too tired to full out laugh at the conundrum that Dimitri got himself into, but he was certainly laughing in his head. "And you don't want to be rubbing elbows with blood sucking politicians so soon after getting home."

"Fuck no! I love my father but I'll punch someone out if I get singled out in a discussion. I do not want to be asked what my views are on anything right now. I need to get out of the manor before the next event."

"Understandable. Well, do you need me to come pick you up?" Tim let another yawn escape.

"No, you don't need to do that. Dad is having my car taken out of storage so I don't have to use a rental. I just...Tim, I know I'm imposing..."

"Dimitri, you're not imposing. You'd never be imposing. Never." Tim insisted. There was another silence, only one of consideration.

"Thanks, Timmy." Tim smiled at Dimitri's use of his most common nickname. It'd been a while since he had heard the man say it. Despite how much the man flirted with everyone, Dimitri was hesitant to use it. Tim had once pointed out that even their teachers at MIT had used it occasionally. Dimitri wouldn't budge.

"I know how you can repay me, if you view yourself a burden." Tim replied in a mischievous tone.

"Dear, god. What?" Dimitri let out with a groan.

"Come to a few team nights with me. The others, sans Gibbs, have all demanded it of me to bring you. You made quite the impression on them yesterday."

"Sure." Tim could tell Dimitri was trying to sound nonchalant about it. He knew better than that.

"I will be right there the entire time, so don't think you can interrogate them for stories." A muttered 'damn it' came through. Tim rolled his eyes as he settled onto a stool to start eating his cereal.

"Ok, I hear crunching. I'm hanging up now. I won't listen to you eating." Dimitri declared in a dramatic tone that made Tim wonder how long the man had been awake. Dimitri wasn't a morning person. "I'll text you later when I know which day I'm coming over."

Tim pulled his cell away from his head when the distinct click of Dimitri hanging up echoed into his ear, looking at it with an exasperated expression before setting it down to finish his breakfast.

* * *

"I'm calling tomorrow a team night." Abby declared randomly, when everyone was gathered in her lab around noon. "This case is already driving you four to the edge. Can't have you guys being pushed into full on craziness just yet."

"Some would argue too late, Abby." Tony joked, earning himself a head slap. Tim and Ziva exchanged amused looks, thinking that some of Tony's craziness probably came from his repeated head slaps.

"I know everyone is their own special kind of crazy, Tony. But even the crazy need to vent to keep themselves from being institutionalized." Abby pointed out. Tim moved himself out of Gibbs' range before speaking, knowing he'd most likely get the same treatment as Tony.

"I think I discovered my version of crazy when Gibbs asked me if I slept in the coffin." Tim commented. Abby laughed in remembrance of that incident and shook her head, not pausing in her work on her computer. Gibbs shot Tim a look, telling him a head slap would be happening in his future, but didn't move from his spot next to Abby.

"Is that enough time for you to speak with your friend, McGee, if we are having a team night tomorrow?" Ziva asked curiously. An excited expression appeared on Abby's face and she immediately turned around, giving Tim an expectant look. He looked back and forth between the two of them before letting out an eye roll.

"Yeah, I can get him to come tomorrow night." Tim yielded, staying quiet about his conversation with Dimitri that very morning where the man already said he'd come. "No promises he'll be able to come for the entire night, but I'm sure I can convince him to come for a few hours."

"Oh, you definitely have to, McGee!" Abby clapped rapidly before spinning back around on her heels to continue working. "He knew you _before_ you joined NCIS. We need to compare notes to see how much you've changed over the years!"

Tim groaned, leaning back against Abby's evidence table as his partners snickered at his misfortune. It reminded him why he never invited any of them to come with on a visit home. Tony and Abby were bad enough with Sarah. They'd interrogate his parents mercilessly, if given the chance.

"Just give in, McGee." Ziva suggested with a smothered smile. "Tony and Abby will not rest until they get what they want from your friend."

"It's not Tony and Abby I'm worried about." Tim shot back without thinking. When his own words registered in his head, he let out another groan and hung his head. Tony and Abby gave each other a mischievous look, clearly making mental notes to plan out their interrogation of Dimitri together. "Goddammit..."

"Clearly we know something about you that you don't want Petroviak to find out, _McPet_ ," Tony snickered. Tim shot Tony a glare, briefly wondering if he could get away with murder with so many witnesses, but a glance at an amused-looking Gibbs had him backtracking and turning back to Ziva.

"I'm beginning to regret introducing you guys to Dimitri." Tim quibbed.

"It had to happen eventually, considering how close you and he seem to be." Ziva replied. "As the saying goes, just go with the flow. Though I do not understand what this 'flow' is..."

Tim couldn't prevent chuckling at Ziva's confusion. Trust her stumbles with American slang and sayings to lighten up the mood. Letting out a sigh, Tim shook his head at the mischievous look Tony was still giving him.

"I'm not leave you and Dimitri alone together. That's final." The mischievous look disappeared into a frown that Tim ignored. He may be a door mat, in comparison to his coworkers, but he would dig in his heels on this with every ounce of McGee stubbornness he had. If he had to play babysitter then Tim was going to make it happen on his terms.


	4. Team Night

"So, tell me. How quickly did Miss Abby plan this after you told her I agreed to come to some of them?" Dimitri asked while fiddling with the various items Tim kept in his glove box. Tim rolled his eyes at Dimitri's actions, having long since accepted the fact that he couldn't expect privacy in certain places. The two of them were on their way to Gibbs' house after having stopped at a grocery store to pick up some requested provisions and a couple six packs.

"I didn't tell any of them about you waking me up via phone call yesterday, Dimitri. Abby planned this because our current case has been making us all feel a bit frayed." Tim stopped the line of questioning before it got off on a tangent. He saw that Dimitri was in a frisky mood the moment he picked the man up and knew that he'd have to be on guard the rest of the night.

"Aww... Withholding more information about me, are you?"

"You aren't going to guilt trip me. Nothing says I have to share every detail of every interaction with you now that you and the others have met."

"True." Dimitri admitted. He closed the glove box, losing interest in the items there and turned to face Tim. "How much longer 'til we get there, anyway? Where does your boss live, in the Boonies?"

Tim couldn't prevent a laugh from escaping and mentally added impatient to that description of frisky that he had labeled Dimitri with.

"We're just a few blocks away. Hold your horses."

"I know. I'm restless. I have a _lot_ of excess energy that I need to get rid of." Dimitri admitted, leaning back heavily in his seat. "I'd get rid of it by spending some time with the girls but they've got classes."

"I'm sure Deidre and Tabitha would _find_ time to spend with you if you asked, Dimitri. They've got a full schedule, sure, but they haven't had the chance to spend time with you in a while. I can see them canceling plans with friends to make some with you." Tim pointed out. He knew the girls well enough to be sure of what they would do.

"I know, Tim. But you remember what school was like. I'll let _them_ make the plans, not make them myself and expect the girls to accommodate them without issue." Tim nodded in recognition of what Dimitri was trying to say. The both of them absolutely hated it, back when they were at MIT, when others would make plans and expect either or both of them to magically have time to attend.

Tim went through the motions of parking his Porsche next to the curb as they finally arrived at Gibbs' house, putting it right behind Ziva's toy of a car.

"We're here, now stop asking." Tim chuckled as Dimitri rolled his eyes before they both got out and collected the groceries from the trunk. The front door opened up before they got to the porch, a blur of black rushing out.

"McGee! You convinced your friend to come!" Abby squealed, coming to a stop in front of them and clapping in excitement. A snort managed to escape from Tim, while Dimitri looked at the hyper goth with a bemused expression.

"I told you I would get him to come tonight, Abby, now move so we can get inside." Tim didn't hesitate to bump into Abby to get her moving, forgoing simply walking around her to get inside.

"Pushy pushy..." Abby commented, sticking her tongue out. She began walking backwards and turned her attention from Tim to Dimitri. "You are going to have loads of fun. Team night is pretty much our version of a slumber party because we rarely actually _leave_ once it's over. Most of the time Gibbs makes us stay so we're not driving under the influence."

"Since it's a 'school night', we gotta be careful." Tim reminded her. "We risk hangovers at our own peril. Gibbs won't be merciful with us tomorrow morning."

"I know. I know. He'll expect perfection despite any headaches we may have." Abby quickly turned around before she could trip backwards onto the steps of the porch, hopping up them and into the house with just as much energy as she had leaving it.

"Is she always like this?" Dimitri asked, finally finding time to speak.

"Yeah. The guys in the mail room at the Yard call her Energizer Abby. We think she has an IV of CaffPow set up for when we're not looking." Tim explained. He closed the door behind Dimitri when they entered, kicking his shoes off out of habit. Dimitri mimicked Tim, not knowing what he should or shouldn't do yet.

"McGee! About time you got here. I was beginning to think you were going to leave me alone with the crazies." Tim rolled his eyes as Tony let out a yelp from the somehow unexpected head slap Gibbs gave him for his comment.

"And face Abby's wrath for not bringing Dimitri as promised? I think not." Tim made a face at Tony as he passed the man on his way to the kitchen to drop off the groceries he was carrying. Dimitri offered a smile instead of a face.

"So, Gunnery Sergeant Petroviak, what would you like us to call you?" Ziva asked from her seat at the kitchen table. "Gunny? Petroviak? Dimitri?"

"I answer to them all, Special Agent David. What would you like me to call _you_?" Dimitri smirked, turning the question around on Ziva.

"Ziva is perfectly fine."

"Ziva it is. You know, I must say, the name suits you very well. You definitely brighten up whatever room you're in." Dimitri grinned from across the table. Tim groaned, mentally thanking god that he had already explained to Ziva that Dimitri flirted with everyone.

"Why thank you, Dimitri. My mother is the one who named me." Ziva offered her own smile, a mischievous glint twinkling in her eyes. Tim wondered why Ziva had any reason to feel mischievous until he caught the look on Tony's face. The Italian man looked none too happy with Dimitri's blatant flirting.

"Wow. You really _are_ like Tony." Tim barely held in a snort at Abby's declaration, Tony turning his irritated look from Dimitri to the goth. Tim really wanted to see where the banter would lead but knew he should step in before Dimitri said something to set Tony off.

"So, Abby, what are we doing tonight? You're the one who planned this."

"We've all been smothered by responsibilities the last few days. I feel that we deserve to be a bit childish." Abby started, sinking into the chair next to Ziva. Gibbs let out a heavy sigh. He recognized the expression on Abby's face. It was telling him that he wasn't going to get out of this very easily, if at all.

"What do you mean by 'childish'?" Tony asked, taking the bait. Tim mentally sighed in relief, kicking Dimitri in the back of the leg in warning as he sat down. Dimitri threw a glare in Tim's direction but got the message.

"I never ever." Those three simple words gained various reactions from the others. Gibbs and Ziva looked on with blank expressions, not understanding what Abby meant. Tony scrunched his face slightly in recognition but didn't comment. Tim, meanwhile, dropped his head onto the kitchen table with a thunk and a groan. He could just feel the excitement flowing off Dimitri in waves. He didn't need to look at the man sitting next to him to know that a painfully wide grin was on Dimitri's face.

" _Awesome_ idea, Abby!" Dimitri moved to the edge of his chair. "How are we doing the shots? We going to use actual shot glasses or will we just be taking drinks from our bottles?"

"Wait, shots? This is a drinking game?" Ziva inquired for clarification.

"Yes." Abby provided for her. "In 'I never ever', you go around the table person by person. Each person says something they've never done. If any of the others _have_ done it, they have to take a drink. Considering our ranges of experiences, we won't set a limit. We'll just keep going 'til we get bored."

"Which is a pointless rule, since we'll find the game funnier and funnier the drunker we get." Tim pointed out.

"That's the point." Abby snickered. Tim rolled his eyes, saying no more. Dimitri suddenly shot up from his seat and walked over to the refrigerator to pull out a couple six packs. He set them in the middle of the kitchen table when he returned, pulling one out and handing it over to Tim before grabbing his own.

"Come on! Let's get this started. This is like 20 Questions, only better." Dimitri started tapping his fingers on the table in anticipation. Abby jumped up to grab beer for the rest of them, giving Gibbs a pouty look as she handed his over. The rebellious look that _had_ been on Gibbs' face melted away into submission, just one of many events that proved that Abby had the older man wrapped around her little finger.

"Let's start easy. Ziva, you go first." Abby turned to the Israeli with a smile.

"Ok. So I simply say something I have not done?" Ziva asked rhetorically. Sensing lots of drinks in their future, Tony got up to collect a few bags of snacks and immediately opened a bag of pretzels. "Alright. I have never planned a prank on McGee."

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose as Abby, Tony, and Dimitri all took drinks. Not the note he wanted the game to start on. Unfortunately, though, they were going clockwise in their turns and Tony was next. Dimitri followed. He'd bet his monthly salary that the next two things would also be about him.

"I never ever... _kissed_ McGee." Blood rushed to Tim's face as the question registered in his head. Tony gave Abby a mischievous look as she took her drink, nearly missing Ziva and Dimitri taking their own drinks. Tony's jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between the two of them, not knowing which one to focus on.

"College. Alcohol. That's _all_ you are going to get, Tony." Tim snapped when it looked like Tony was going to focus on Dimitri. Tony gave Tim an obstinate look and started to open his mouth to speak, but shut it when Tim glared. Tony's obvious disappointment grew when Dimitri snickered and gave him a smirk. Barely holding back a pout, Tony turned his attention to Ziva.

"When on earth did _you_ kiss McGee?"

"To save him from being flirted with by a rather unsavory looking woman." Ziva explained, not looking the least bit embarrassed. "She had him cornered. I pretended to be his girlfriend to get her to leave. I would do the very same for you and Gibbs. Well...Gibbs. You, I would stand there and watch with great amusement."

"Women like that are the _worst_. They never learn when to stop." Abby rambled on, not batting an eyelash about the topic.

"Ok, my turn." Dimitri grinned evilly. Tim didn't know whether or not he should be happy the discussion was cut off. "I never ever arrested anyone."

Tim gladly took his drink with Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva. He'd take Dimitri purposely getting him drunk over having details shared. The others looked to him expectantly when he set his bottle down.

"I never ever..." Tim began, wondering what he could say that he knew at least one of the others had done. They had made him do so many things that he didn't have much to pick from. But then a sudden memory from his first year on the team flashed in his mind. "Blackmailed a teammate with a picture of themselves."

Tony glowered before taking his drink. Gibbs let a small smile escape while both Abby and Ziva gave Tony critical looks.

"What'd he do?" Dimitri poked Tim on the arm when it became clear to him that the man in question wasn't going to out himself.

"In my first year on the team, Ziva wasn't with us. We had a different partner. Caitlin Todd. Tony found a picture of her from a wet t-shirt contest while on vacation with buddies from college. Used it against her to keep her from sharing information she gained about him when she dated one of his frat brothers." Tim explained with a grin.

"Ooooo...sneaky. I assume you and he still have copies of said photo?" Dimitri asked, earning an elbow in the ribs from Tim.

"Behave." Tim warned. "I can get you drunk just as easily as you can get me drunk."

"No promises." Dimitri shot back, popping a pretzel into his mouth. Sighing, Tim turned to Gibbs and gave him a look, begging him to take his turn.

"I never got dressed up for Halloween as an adult." Gibbs knew exactly what to say to make everyone else at the table take a drink. It probably wasn't fair that they all would most likely be drinking every time Gibbs took a turn, but it was also highly likely that Abby planned it that way.

"My turn. What, oh what should I start with?" Abby looked over everyone slowly like a predator looking over their prey. She paused briefly on Dimitri, unsure of how she could get him to drink, before putting her focus on Ziva. "I never ever threatened coworkers with office supplies."

Ziva smirked as she lifted her beer bottle for a drink. Tim could barely hide his own as he drank, as well. Tony dropped his hands to the table in disbelief, throwing Tim a look that said 'explain'.

"Unlike you, Tony, I'm willing to threaten Ziva right back. It's a side effect of having a little sister."

"You seriously lack that much self preservation?" Tony scoffed lightly, leaning away from Ziva when she shot him a look.

"Sibling love, Tony. It's easier to understand when you get it at a younger age than an older one, like you did." Tim explained in the only way he knew how. He was scared of Ziva, just like Tony, but somewhere along the line his brain sectioned her off with Sarah. An older brother reaction just happened automatically sometimes. "Ziva and I come from multiple child families. It's easy for us to revert back to that mindset while arguing."

"That's still disturbing, on multiple levels, since you two basically admitted to incest already." Tony did a mock gag. Tim rolled his eyes at the reference to Ziva's kiss.

"Tony, we're not actually related. Our relationship is merely sibling _like_. No different than you and Abby, and I _know_ there have been occasions where you two saved each other from distasteful people." Tim shot back. Abby snickered, knowing Tony couldn't exactly argue against that. Tim and Ziva were close in the same way the two of them were. Dimitri bit his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud. "Ziva, take your next turn."

"Alright." Ziva chuckled. She slid her bottle back and forth between her hands on the table as she thought of something to say.

* * *

"You're so much like Tony!" Ziva giggled through a hiccup before taking a drink from her latest bottle of beer. Team Night had been going for some time now. Gibbs managed to sneak off to the basement after a few rounds of I Never Ever, when Abby was sufficiently buzzed enough to let him leave without comment. The others, though, were still going at it and were at various stages of intoxication. Tim managed to last the time with only a mild buzz and was glad that Gibbs would be allowing him to leave tonight after waiting out the alcohol. After all the Dimitri-Tony comparisons that had been going on, Tim didn't want to sleep in the same house as the two of them. "Movie quote for every occasion."

"I try." Dimitri smirked across the table, beer bottle cradled between his hands. "Had I known you were the only one who's totaled multiple cars, though, I would have picked something else. Come up with a better quote."

"Don't." Tim insisted. "I work with movie quotes. I don't want to deal with them in my off time."

"You can be such a dull party goer when you want to be, Timothy." Dimitri declared in a mock-posh tone. Tim raised an eyebrow at him with a chuckle before realizing that Dimitri was the most sober of the five of them, leaving his sense of sarcasm intact. Dimitri had clearly gained a better tolerance for alcohol since college. "Take your turn."

Tim stuck his tongue out impishly. If Dimitri was going to battle then Tim was going to declare war.

"I never ever knocked up my high school sweetheart." The other Gibblets chortled in great amusement as Dimitri took his drink, the shine of impending revenge in his eyes.

"I didn't know you even _had_ a high school sweetheart, McGee." Tony commented.

"That's a moot point." Tim returned. "I didn't get my non-existent sweetheart pregnant. That's all that matters in this specific situation."

"Semantics." Tony waved off Tim's explanation. Abby giggled hysterically at their banter, clearly the most smashed out of them all.

"My turn! I never ever..." Abby slumped sideways into Ziva, readjusting herself back into an upright position with a snort. "I never ever got a tattoo to impress anybody."

Tony waved his hand in excitement, pointing at Tim.

"Ha! Drink up, Mc _Mom_." Tim snorted, shaking his head slowly but leaving his beer bottle on the table. Dimitri gave him a curious look at the others' insistence that he had to drink.

"Why do they think you got a tattoo to impress someone? We established the other day that you only have the one."

"Because he _did_." Tony insisted, nearly tipping over his bear bottle.

"That's our cue to leave, Dimitri. They're drunk enough to be forgetting conversations." Tim stood up, ignoring the groans and pouts from the others. "They don't remember you outing me about my tattoo the other day."

"I'd say." Dimitri laughed, standing up as well. He glanced at his watch and sighed. "It's about 9:30. Think my parents' latest shindig will be over?"

"Maybe. Guys, stop pouting. We have work tomorrow. You three should be sleeping off all that alcohol you've drank." Tim switched between talking with Dimitri and scolding his drunk team mates. The three of them had already forgotten about the game and were complaining about Tim and Dimitri leaving.

"Fine. Abandon us. Take away our fun..." Abby whined. Tim rolled his eyes at her pitiful attempt at getting the two of them to stay. If Tim was fully drunk, not simply buzzed, he would have probably stayed because it was Abby asking. But duty called and he wanted to sober up before going to bed.

"That's exactly what we're doing. Abandoning you." Tim retorted, heading towards the basement door. "Boss, Dimitri and I are leaving!"

"Aren't you going to wait for him to answer?" Dimitri asked when Tim immediately walked away.

"He's not gonna answer." Tim explained, leading the way through the house back to the front door. He made a point to ignore the wailing of his coworkers, begging him to stay longer. "Gibbs is kind of a functional mute."

"How do you work for him if he doesn't speak?" Tim chuckled at the confused look on Dimitri's face.

"You learn to anticipate what he wants you to do or you don't work for him. Believe me, it wasn't easy earning my place."

"I still don't get it, but whatever." Dimitri gave up. Tim rolled his eyes, tossing his car keys in Dimitri's direction. The Marine barely caught them in time to stop them from falling to the floor.

"You're sober. You get to drive." Tim bent down to tie his shoes back on, making quick work of it.

"Ooo...I get to drive a Porsche." Dimitri smiled, pulling an eye roll from Tim.

"Yeah, because you've never had the opportunity before with your father's cars."

"Just get moving." Dimitri snorted, prodding Tim through the front door after opening it. "It's nearing your bed time and I need to pick up my car from your place."

"I'm moving. I'm moving." Tim shoved back with a laugh, stumbling down the steps that had suddenly appeared under him quicker than expected. He grabbed the railing with a yelp, turning slightly red as the air filled with Dimitri's laughter. Glaring at his friend, Tim snorted in dismissal and marched off towards his car.

* * *

Tim threw his used bath towel in his hamper, feeling a bit more clear headed after his shower. He was happy he waited a couple hours. Taking a shower while buzzed gave him the most terrible head ache. A sudden grumble from his stomach had Tim wandering into his kitchen to find something to quell the beast before bed. Tim knew he should probably eat something _healthy_ , but laziness kicked in and he was soon microwaving a TV dinner. The few minutes it took to cook seemed like forever and Tim began gazing at his clock in a trance.

Knocking on his door snapped Tim out of it, making him wonder who would be coming to his apartment at nearly midnight. Leaving his microwave to finish its work, he headed to his door and looked through the peephole. Baffled at who he saw, Tim undid the chain lock and opened the door.

"Dimitri! It's nearly midnight. Did something happen?" Tim backed up slightly as Dimitri stepped forward. Dimitri's face was the most serious Tim had ever seen it, making him worried.

"You could say that. It's taken me the last couple hours to stop arguing with myself about this." Dimitri answered without actually giving any details.

"You're not making any sense." Tim declared, shaking his head in confusion. Dimitri tossed a DVD case at him, making Tim fumble for it.

"I'm sure." Dimitri closed the door behind him, not turning away.

"Brokeback Mountain?" Tim read the DVD cover with a scrunched up expression. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"I just spent most of the night being compared to DiNozzo. I figured you'd appreciate the reference." Dimitri alluded to his reason for coming so late.

"Reference?" Tim began, still not understanding what Dimitri was getting at. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm a bit out of it because it's late. What reference are you tal..."

The next thing Tim knew, Dimitri had grabbed him and brought him into a lip lock. Tim inhaled sharply through his nose in suprise, the DVD case clattering to the floor.


	5. Clarifications

Tim's eyes blinked open sleepily. He felt a serious sense of deja vu as he reached up towards his side table to grab his ringing cell phone, answering it without looking at the caller ID.

"McGee..." He yawned.

" _Don't bother with coming into work today, McGee_." Came Gibbs' gruff voice.

"Did the others drink themselves into helplessness after I left last night, Boss?" Was Tim's immediate question. He knew he should have confiscated the rest of the beer. Or at least hide it in the basement with Gibbs.

" _Suspect's lawyers filed every sort of injunction they could get their hands on. Papers were served this morning. We can't go anywhere near the evidence until Legal can get us the all clear_." Gibbs sounded pissed, and rightly so Tim had to admit. They were out of leads. They needed Abby to finish looking over the evidence to give them a direction and a pile of paperwork from their prime suspect's lawyers just separated the evidence from Abby. No wonder Gibbs was calling to tell him to stay home.

"No working on cold cases?" Tim felt like he had to ask.

" _Vance said to stay home_." Which translated to Tim that Vance had administration reasons for wanting Team Gibbs to take a day off and was taking advantage of the sudden lack of access to their evidence. Sometimes his ability to interpret whatever Gibbs said amazed Tim.

"Alright." Tim relented. He was going to ask when they _could_ return to work, but Gibbs had already hung up. Closing his cell phone, Tim tossed it back onto his side table and shut off his alarm clock.

Tim went to turn over, but was stopped by the arm on his waist that he was suddenly aware of. His half asleep mind, conditioned from routine, panicked momentarily at the sudden difference in his usual surroundings until the events of the previous night came blaring to the surface of his memory. _Dimitri_.

"I take it you're not going in to work today." The marine muttered half into the pillow he was resting on. Tim raised an eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder. _There_ was the morning-hating person he went to MIT with. Where was he the other day when he called?

"Nope. Lawyers are fighting back." Tim lifted Dimitri's arm off his waist and dropped it onto the bed, swinging his legs over so he could sit up. He wanted to fall back asleep, sure, but his bladder realized he was awake and decided now was the perfect time to cry for attention.

"I hate lawyers..." Dimitri grumbled, burying his face deeper into the pillow. Tim snorted, crossing his room to his bathroom. When he finished and came back out, he wasn't surprised to see that Dimitri hadn't moved.

"How is it possible that you are one of the laziest people I know?" Tim asked as he returned to his bed, sitting down against his head board.

"I'm just that talented." Dimitri shot back.

"Well, wake up. We didn't exactly finish our discussion last night. Now would be a perfect time to finish it." Dimitri groaned, sitting up.

"Working for Gibbs has made you _evil_."

"It's only 6 AM. You should be used to waking up this early." Tim pointed out with a smirk.

"Last time I checked, I was home and could wake up whenever the hell I want to." Dimitri pulled out a pout, trying to play the sympathy card with Tim. It wasn't working but he needed to try anyway.

"Dimi..." Tim sighed in exasperation. "You used my exhaustion against me last night to get out of this. I'm wide awake, now. We're finishing it."

"Ok, fine. Yes, this has been on my mind since that damn policy got repealed. All I have been able to think is that your reason for breaking up is no longer valid. Three years we were together, Tim, before we graduated and picked our career paths. Three _years_. You think I was going to push that off to the side just because I went military? You're the one who wanted to break up because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, not me." Dimitri was clearly up, now, and irritated.

"No. I didn't think you were going to do that." Tim defended himself. Dimitri's reaction was expected, so he didn't take offense. "But we're certainly not going to be able to take up where we left off. Things have changed. _We_ have changed. It's going to take some effort if we want to start again."

"You sound like you already have something in mind that may give us trouble."

"Ethan, for one. It's no secret he's borderline homophobic. Kate had to explain me away as an old friend from college just so he'd let me in the door."

"Tim, you _are_ an old friend from college." Dimitri reminded him.

"That's beside the point. She couldn't look at him and say 'Ethan, remember my ex-husband Dimitri? Well, here's the man I pushed him to be with after we got divorced'." Tim went on. "Kate may be our primary supporter, since she's the one who pushed you into action, but she doesn't shy away from the fact that Ethan wouldn't hesitate to ban us from their house if he found out about our history."

"Deidre and Tabitha are adults now, Tim. The only person Ethan can even _attempt_ to restrict our access to is Kate and you know how stubborn she can be. I say fuck him. What else are you worried about?" Tim frowned at Dimitri's dismissal of Ethan. The man could make their lives very difficult if he wanted to. But the determined look on Dimitri's face had Tim moving on.

"Just because Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed doesn't mean people are going to act any different. Hell, I couldn't even tell you what my own coworkers think about homosexuality."

"We're Bisexual." Dimitri corrected him.

"Beside the point!" Tim repeated. "Other than Abby, who would probably ask if she could watch immediately after finding out, I have no idea how any of the others would react. I want to be back with you, Dimitri. I _want_ to. You have no idea how much I've missed you. But I don't want you thinking it'll be as easy as it was last time. We didn't know as many people back in college. We may very well lose friends this time."

Dimitri scooted up so he was leaning against the head board as well and threw his arm over Tim's shoulders. He smiled indulgently before leaning in to kiss Tim slowly.

"At the risk of sounding corny, I refer to a frequently repeated bit of knowledge. Those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind. I came here unexpectedly last night and I apologize because dumping all of this on you at once was unfair. But if you really want to get back together, Timmy, then you're gonna have to learn to have a bit of a 'fuck 'em' attitude. Everyone's reactions will be immediate. Their actions will be swift. Everything will happen quite quickly, but once it's all over we'll know which of our friends are worth having. At least we know our family will be with us."

"Fuck 'em attitude?" Tim asked with a scrunched up face, pulling a chuckle from Dimitri.

"You're too nice, Timmy. I admit that's one of your aspects that attracted me in the first place, but you're too willing to compromise. Put a few nails in that door mat so people know to tread lightly." Tim slouched into Dimitri and thought over everything that he said. Dimitri wasn't exactly denying they'd have problems with people. He was just adopting the mindset that those who had an issue weren't worth knowing, which was really just a blanket policy that could be applied to any problem Tim could think of.

"We're gonna have a few other issues, but they're more challenges on your part." Tim switched topics, turning his head to smirk at Dimitri.

"Oh, and what issues would those be?" Dimitri raised his eyebrows in bemusement.

"You're gonna have to work for dominance. I'm not giving it freely this time."

"I think I can take you." Dimitri snorted. "The Marines don't train wimps."

"I train to be able to take down Marines." Tim reminded him. " _And_ I get hand cuffs."

"Ooo...so I get to cuff you down before having my way with you? That is an awesome new option." Dimitri teased with a satisfied smirk. Tim thinned his eyes out, considering tackling Dimitri to show that he _could_ but decided against it. Dimitri had the upper ground by having his arm around Tim's shoulders. Picking the childish route, Tim turned away and crossed his arms. Laughing at the immaturity of his actions, Dimitri hugged Tim closer and rubbed his free hand on Tim's head to mess his hair up more than it already was. Grunting in defiance, Tim immediately changed his mind and moved to push Dimitri over so he could pin the man down. He regretted it a few moments later when Dimitri made easy work of turning the move around on him and had him pinned to the bed within seconds.

"Ok, that's not fair." Tim insisted, looking up at Dimitri's smirking face.

"I _told_ you I could take you. Why don't you ever listen?"

"Remember when I said you'd have to _work_ for dominance?" Tim did a halfhearted move in an attempt to get Dimitri off him, but admitted to himself that he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell in moving the man.

"If that's all I have to contend against then it won't be very hard work. I'll have you retrained in no time." Tim rolled his eyes, letting himself go limp. He wasn't moving until Dimitri said he could so there was no need to keep himself tense.

"You know, I still haven't figured it out." Tim said randomly, earning a confused look. "What reference were you trying to get across with the Brokeback Mountain DVD?"

"Seriously? Haven't you seen it?" Dimitri looked at Tim incredulously.

"Nope. Why? Should I have?" Dimitri let himself relax on top of Tim, head buried in the crook of Tim's neck as he burst out laughing. "Glad to know you find me so amusing. Now, come on. I know you only made a movie reference because you were irritated with being compared to Tony all evening. What was the reference?"

Dimitri lifted his head, snorts of laughter still managing to escape in his effort to maintain a straight face.

"There's a line in the movie that I felt was appropriate to mention, at the time. I assumed you had seen the movie and would know what I was talking about."

"What's the line?" Dimitri blushed slightly. The idea was a good one last night. He was using it on an exhausted Tim. It just seemed incredibly cheesy the next morning.

"I wish I knew how to quit you. I know. It's corny, even by my standards. But I was reacting more out of irritation than actual thinking when I chose to use that line."

"You know, you don't have to convince me that you are different from Tony." Tim assured Dimitri. "You're a new shiny toy for them to play with, so Abby and Ziva are only going to see the surface details. But I know you and I know Tony. You both may have come from money and you both may be movie buffs, but that's where the similarities end."

"I'd hope you could tell the two of us apart. I may have to get violent if you start moaning _his_ name in your sleep." Tim used the opportunity to shove Dimitri off him, rolling his eyes at the other man's chuckling. One thing was certain. He wasn't entirely sure he'd survive the dual immaturity that Dimitri and Tony offered.


	6. Arrival

"Remind me again why I agreed to come with." Tim borderline whined as Dimitri turned Tim's Porsche into the drive way of his parents' estate.

"Because I want to tease my family by bringing you but not actually telling them that we're getting back together."

"Being tackled by your brothers isn't exactly how I want to spend my unexpected day off." Dimitri threw Tim a smirk.

"I'd be more worried about the girls when they finally see you. You _do_ like having a bruised back, right?" Dimitri asked through a chuckle. Tim rolled his eyes at the remark and turned his attention to the manor.

"Certainly doesn't look any bigger from the last time I've seen it."

"You wouldn't see the additions from here. Mom and Dad added wings to the back so they didn't have to completely re-do the entrance way. The pool is now in an enclosed area, ruining any sort of view there was before."

"Like you cared about the view. You were always more concerned about what you could get away with without getting caught." Tim chided. Dimitri let out a guilty chuckle.

"Between you and kate, I had plenty of other things to focus on than the view, thank you very much. How do you think the girls got here?" Tim let out a snort.

"Do you really think Kate would appreciate you giving specific details like that?"

"Kate wouldn't give a damn. The only reason why she didn't come to you begging to be number three in a three-way when she and I were together was because I don't share. At all." A pink tint grew on Tim's face at Dimitri's blatant admission. He and Kate were close, but he didn't think he could ever do anything like that with her. She was too much like Sarah or Ziva to him. Shuddering at the thought of Kate coming to him with such a request, Tim restrained himself just long enough for Dimitri to bring the car to a complete stop before undoing his buckle and getting out. Dimitri burst out laughing at Tim's reaction to the little piece of information he shared, deciding to take his time in getting out.

"You know, I'm surprised all you guys are home at the same time." Tim changed the subject. With a roll of his eyes, Dimitri went along with it as he led the way up to the main entrance.

"I was the last one to come home. Yuri, Luka, and Viktor all agreed not to re-enlist when their due date came up a few months ago and Mischa made the decision last year. Now Mom and Dad have more time with their kids and grand kids than they know what to do with."

"The triplets made the decision together? I figured at least Luka would want to stay in a bit longer."

"Pressure from Mom." Dimitri explained. "Yuri and Viktor both have a wife and kids. She's guilt tripped him into feeling like the odd man out. Doesn't matter that _Anya_ has yet to find a man she finds suitable enough to marry. We boys apparently gotta start earlier."

"Where does that put you, then?" Tim couldn't help but ask.

"I think I'm safe from the lectures because of Deidre and Tabitha. I've already done my duty and given her grandchildren to take the focus off me. That leaves me free to do what I want." Dimitri snickered. He opened the door with a quick turn of the knob, letting out a sigh at the sight of various workers decorating the main entrance hall.

"Dimitri! You are back early." An older looking woman walked away from the ladder she had been standing below as she directed the workers.

"Yeah, I know, Mom. I said I was gonna be gone most of the day. But something came up and..."

"Timothy!" Dimitri promptly stepped aside as Tim was quickly grabbed into a hug by his mother. She let out an excited laugh as she pulled away and held Tim at arm's length. "Dimitri made no mention about bringing you home! Dimitri, why didn't you tell me you were bringing Timothy home with you today?"

"Mom, I didn't know I would be bringing Tim home when I left last night." Dimitri explained in an even tone that made Tim hurriedly make an effort to hold in his laugh.

"Never mind, then. Timothy, how have you been?! Kate and the girls always mention when they see you but you never come visit here! Why not?" It was Dimitri's turn to hold in laughter as his mother immediately went about putting Tim on a guilt trip.

"I've been doing ok, Nadia. Work can be rather hectic, so I don't always get to follow through with my plans. Most of the time it's rather unexpected when I see Kate and the girls. I can't always get days off like today." Tim placated Nadia smoothly. When she accepted the explanation without argument, Dimitri threw Tim a 'Come on!' look when his mother turned away to give a few more orders to the workers. Tim stuck his tongue out with a smirk, clearing his expression just in time to keep Nadia from seeing it as she turned back to the two of them.

"Your father had to run into the office for something, so he'll be back a bit later, but all the others are out in the garden. They deemed today a good day to have a spontaneous pool party. They're already getting lunch ready, but I do suspect that they're going to commandeer dinner and have it held out there as well."

"Sounds like a great idea! I'm just gonna take Tim out to say hello before we go digging for swimming wear." Dimitri started pulling Tim towards the depths of the building. "Have fun decorating, Mom!"

Nadia rolled her eyes at her son's antics and shooed the two of them out of the entrance hall.


	7. Sibling Love

Yells and shouts of laughter reached their ears before Dimitri and Tim made it to the garden door. They gave each other amused looks when one of those shouts turned into one of protest just as Dimitri opened the door. Their first sight was of a man falling into the pool with a splash, a young woman letting out maniacal laughter at the edge of the pool where the man would have been standing.

"Anya, damn it!" The man sputtered when he made his way back to the surface. The young woman in question stuck her tongue out at him before darting her way over to a near by table of food, immediately shoving a hunk of watermelon into her mouth.

"Deal with it, Luka!" She yelled back at him, muffled from the food in her mouth. Luka glared at her as he pulled himself out of the pool to dry off. Everyone else was too busy laughing at the prank to notice Dimitri and Tim standing there, but Luka did as he reached for his towel.

"Dimitri!" He yelled in surprise. Luka's expression of irritation dropped as quickly as his towel was, being replaced with a grin as the others turned in shock.

"Luka!" Dimitri yelled back in mock surprise. Tim let out a chuckle as the others continued to look on in silence with wide eyes.

"I think you broke your siblings." He muttered to Dimitri. His statement seemed to jar the others into action, because as soon as he said it Anya immediately dropped the piece of food she was holding and rushed towards her oldest brother in a running leap. Dimitri barely caught her in time, bursting out laughing as he spun the both of them around to throw off Anya's excess momentum. The others soon followed, everyone speaking at once.

"Mom didn't tell us you were home already!"

"When did you get back?"

"How long have you been home?"

"Have you seen Kate or the girls yet?"

"You went to see your boy-toy before your siblings?!"

"Hey!" Tim yelled in protest when that last question registered in his head, making everyone laugh and finally quiet down long enough for Dimitri to answer them all.

"I got home a couple days ago. And don't yell at Mom. I told her and Dad not to say anything. I wanted to get a couple things done before seeing everyone again." He set Anya down as he spoke, throwing an arm over her shoulders in a half hug. It was easy to see that the oldest Petroviak child was closest with the youngest. "Yes, I've seen Kate and the girls. I saw them the day I got back. As for my _boy-toy_ , Tim was the first person I saw upon arrival."

Tim glared at Dimitri for going along with the nickname but remained silent. He knew the Petroviak family well enough not to argue. With his luck, Dimitri's parents would start using the term as well.

"If only my exes were as adamant to see me." Anya pouted.

"Pick better exes." Yuri laughed, poking her in the side. "Because in case you haven't noticed, McGee is loveable even after breaking up with him."

Dimitri and Tim shared a look. Their news was definitely going to shock a few people.

"I try my hardest." Tim shot at Yuri before someone noticed his and Dimitri's silence.

"What are you doing now, Tim? Whatever it is is certainly keeping you in shape." Mischa asked, turning his attention from his brother. Tim grinned at the comment.

"Thanks. And it does. I'm a field agent for NCIS."

"Oooo! That means you get to solve murders and crimes and whatnot for the Marines and the Navy, right?" Anya spoke up, her eyes wide with fascination. It was a heavy reminder to Tim that Anya was only a couple years older than Sarah and still managed to maintain a youthful innocence about her.

"Yes. I'm the Junior Field Agent for the Major Crime Response Team of DC's branch. We primarily handle felony cases."

"Sounds like you get to see a lot of gruesome stuff, then." Victor frowned.

"You'd be surprised..." Tim answered wryly.

"Change of topic!" Dimitri declared loudly. "I'm home. I don't want the mood to go downhill. How long have you guys been out here?"

"Not that long." Anya lifted her head to look up at him. "Cook isn't done with lunch yet. He simply sent out a small buffet of snack foods until he finishes."

"Great news. We only came outside for a quick hello before searching for swim trunks, so Tim and I are now going to go do that. It may take us a little while, so lunch may be done when we come back out."

"I'm expecting to have to drive back to my apartment to get my own swim suit." Tim inserted with a smirk, making Dimitri thin his eyes out at him.

"You'll do no such thing. You know damn well my mother hoards summer wear like it's going out of style. We'll easily find something here. And it'll most likely be in one of the guest rooms." Dimitri removed his arm from around Anya's shoulders, taking a step back. "Now hop to it. Like I said, it may take us a little while to find something in our sizes."

"Very well, my liege." Tim replied with as much sarcasm as possible, even including a small bow that got the others laughing at their antics. Dimitri pushed him back towards the door with a roll of the eyes, ignoring the spattering of catcalls his siblings were throwing at the two of them as they went back inside.

"I should make you pay for your cheek." Dimitri hissed at him when they finally got out of earshot of everyone else, including the house staff that was walking about. Tim chuckled evilly as he headed up the back stairwell first, already knowing exactly where Dimitri's room was.

"I'd like to see you try."

"I accept that challenge." Dimitri shot back with a calculating glare.

* * *

"Seriously, Dimitri. It's just swimming trunks." Tim moaned, sprawled out on Dimitri's bed. He had quickly found a suitable pair to wear and was already changed into them. Dimitri, on the other hand, had spent the last fifteen minutes searching his entire wardrobe for his 'favorite' pair of swimming trunks.

"But they're my _favorite_." Dimitri called back from his walk-in closet. Tim muttered something under his breath about Dimitri having a larger wardrobe than both of their sisters combined before giving in to temptation.

"Dimitri! I think it is time for you to come out of the closet." The rustle of clothes instantly stopped, the silence making Tim suddenly regret the potshot joke. Dimitri may have been considering letting him get away with the joke he made in front of the others but he was definitely going to pay for this one. The look on Dimitri's face as he slowly walked out of said closet only confirmed it.

"Excuse me?" Dimitri's even tone had Tim scrambling to sit back up and move away from the bed. If he stayed there, he'd be cornered.

"I said..." Tim began before taking a big breath. If he was going to go down, he might as well go down in a blaze of glory. "I think it is time for you to come out of the closet."

"I thought so." There was a tense silence in the room before Tim gave in to his Fight or Flight response and dashed for the bedroom door. It probably would have helped if the door was open before he got to it, but Tim's luck wasn't that good. The time he had to take to slow down to open the door was just long enough for Dimitri to catch up to him and jerk him away from it. Tim let out a laughing yelp as Dimitri threw him back in the direction of the bed, the only thing in the room where he could corner Tim without giving the man leverage to use brute force to get by him. His heavy wood furniture was a downside, in that respect. "You know, I think you should be... _reprimanded_ before we go back outside. You are definitely getting quite cheeky today."

"Gonna have to work for it." Tim reminded him of their conversation from that very morning, a mischievous glint shining in his eyes. He had to admit to him that he was going to greatly enjoy surprising Dimitri with the various moves he had learned in his years as an agent at NCIS. Taking the man down would be relatively easy, if only he could get a good enough opening to make the move. But that was a concern for another day. For now, he'd let Dimitri try to do whatever was going on in his twisted little mind.

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to have a difficult time." Dimitri let out a smirk of his own, making Tim a bit wary. That particular smirk usually meant Dimitri was thinking of something Tim wasn't expecting.

"You sure about tha..." Tim was interrupted mid-word when he had to dart to the side as Dimitri made to grab him again. The darting back and forth went on for a few moments before Dimitri tricked Tim with a false move in one direction, quickly changing his trajectory to grab Tim before the man realized he made a wrong move. Tim cried out in surprise at the sudden change in his situation and tried to wiggle his way out of Dimitri's grip before he was pinned to the bed. Frowning at his wrists being held above his head, Tim tried to buck the other man off of him amongst laughter.

"I told you." Dimitri managed to get out between laughs. "It wouldn't be difficult."

"Evil, twisted, sneaky..." Tim started spewing at Dimitri, glaring at the large grin he was getting. He tried to think of longer, more complex insults to use but his writer's brain was failing him.

"Awww. Anything else you'd like to say with your sixth grade vocabulary, Timmy?" Dimitri rose an eyebrow at Tim.

"You immature, harebrained, egotistical..!" Tim's raised voice was immediately quieted as Dimitri ducked down to kiss him, Tim suddenly hyper-aware of the position Dimitri had him in. Forgetting why Dimitri had him pinned down in the first place, Tim responded with enthusiasm and tried to wriggle his wrists free so he could run his hands through the other man's hair like he usually did. Their lips tickled from vibrations as Dimitri chuckled before pulling away and putting his attention on Tim's neck. Tim let out a whine at the change. "Dimi..."

"Now...Tim..." Dimitri said between kisses. He nibbled at the tender spot where Tim's neck met his shoulder, earning a moan, before pulling away to talk properly. "My brothers and sisters are waiting for us downstairs. We really should be going."

"You fucking tease." Tim hissed as Dimitri got off him with a smirk, heading back to the closet. "And you say I've turned evil!"

"You have." Dimitri left the closet a few seconds later, favorite swim trunks in hand, only to receive a disbelieving look from Tim. "What? I literally found them, like, two seconds before you made your 'come out of the closet' joke."

"Sure you did." Tim thinned his eyes out at Dimitri, who promptly ignored Tim as he changed into his swim trunks. Throwing on a plain white tshirt so he wasn't walking around the manor topless, like Tim did when he changed, Dimitri threw his street clothes down the laundry chute after emptying the pockets.

"Alright, now let's go. They're probably wondering what's taking us so long." Dimitri gave Tim a pseudo-innocent smile, prompting an eye roll from Tim. It was a look Tony have him all the time. It didn't work for Tony and it certainly wasn't going to work for Dimitri.

"You are going to pay. Dearly." Tim muttered as he got off the bed, letting the other man lead the way back out to the pool.


	8. Revelations

"So, anything new in your life other than NCIS, Tim?" Anya asked from her floating chair out on the water. Everyone was done eating the main course for lunch with nothing left to do but graze through what was left on the buffet table.

"I got a book published. It made the  _Times_  Top Ten Seller list." Tim grinned broadly from his place at the edge of the pool. All the Petroviak children, sans Dimitri, started speaking at once, but only Anya's question made it through the uproar to Tim.

"What did you write?" Tim looked around with an amused expression, waiting for the others to quiet down before answering.

"Deep Six."

" _No way_." Veronica, Mischa's wife, hissed. Tim turned to look at her in confusion, not understanding why Mischa had dropped his head in a groan.

"Yes, way, Ver. What's the deal?"

"Our daughter, Christine, is the  _biggest_  Deep Six fanatic. Her entire bedroom is decorated in stuff related to the book. Fan art, promotion posters, the works. She even painted quotes onto her walls!" Tim's face grew redder and redder with each passing word from Veronica, prompting the others to start snickering at him. "If we damn well realized that we  _knew_  the author, we would have requested a meet up ages ago!"

"I'm sure Tim would be more than willing to provide." Dimitri commented with a smirk. Tim gave him a glare.

"I told  _you_  about Deep Six when I found a publisher to take it. Why didn't you tell me that one of your nieces was a fan?"

"Why didn't you tell us Tim was the author?" Mischa shot out before Dimitri could find an excuse for Tim's question. Dimitri resorted to giving Tim, Mischa, and Veronica an innocent expression.

"I have no idea what any of you are talking about." Dimitri then spun on his heel and headed back over to the buffet table. Rolling his eyes at the man's antics, Tim turned his attention back to Mischa and Veronica.

"I'll be more than happy to meet your guys' daughter."

"Interrupt her Freshman English class at school." Mischa immediately suggested. "Everyone in that class, including the teacher, knows about her Deep Six addiction and like to joke about it. It would show them the meaning of karma."

Veronica slapped at her husband with a disapproving look, which went totally ignored.

"I'd insist on contacting the school ahead of time to inform them about my 'surprise' visit, but sure. I'll visit her English class." Tim chuckled. No need to wonder if Dimitri and Mischa were related. Dimitri would most likely have suggested that, himself, if Mischa hadn't.

"So, dear oldest brother of mine." Yuri began just as Dimitri returned to the side of the pool, pulling himself up onto the edge like Tim was. "What important things did you need to do that had you running to McGee before us?"

Tim promptly pushed the younger man back into the pool, triggering another bout of laughter amongst the others. Dimitri looked slightly panicked as he tried to think up an excuse, the smirk on Tim's face telling him he had to fend for himself. This was the payment Tim mentioned back up in his bedroom. Yuri pulled Tim off the edge in retaliation just as Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, giving him a few more moments to think.

"Oh, just a little of this and a little of that." Dimitri attempted a nonchalant tone as he stretched out on one of the pool side chairs.

"Bullshit!" Victor cried out, earning an eye roll from his wife, Irene. "I went in to talk to Mom when the two of you went to go search for swim trunks. You've been with Tim more than anyone else these last few days,  _including_  your daughters."

Anya slipped off her chair and swam over to Tim, giving him a smirk as she pulled herself out of the water and nestled up against him. She had figured it out. Anya had only ever been comfortable enough with him to treat him like she treated Dimitri when he and the other man were together. Giving her an amused look in return, Tim threw an arm over her shoulders as he turned his attention back to Dimitri. It wasn't often any of them got him stuck in between a rock and a hard place. This was prime entertainment.

"Well, maybe I didn't want to be the target of jokes my first day back!" Dimitri cried at his younger brother.

"Yeah, because  _we_  are the jokers in this family." Yuri replied sarcastically. Luka's laughter began to slow down when he noticed Anya glued to Tim's side, giving the two of them a surprised look. Tim quickly made a slashing motion in front of his throat so Luka wouldn't say anything, jerking his head at Dimitri to say that he wanted the oldest Petroviak child to do the revealing. Pursing his lips together in an attempt to hide a grin, Luka nodded in agreement.

"God, I know you're not, Yuri." Dimitri let out a sigh of irritation. "That's why I have every reason to fear any time I'm put at the disadvantage."

"For crying out loud, Dimi, stop stalling!" Tim inserted himself into the conversation. Dimitri's comment would send the brothers off into a tangent and that was  _not_  what he wanted. Tim's unexpected addition had everyone else looking at him in mild surprise that he'd actually interrupt someone, only to have Yuri, Victor, and Mischa zone in on Anya. They knew what that meant, even if the wives didn't.

"Alright,  _fine_." Dimitri rolled his eyes, ignoring his younger brothers rapidly turning their heads back and forth between him and Tim. Veronica, Irene, and Elizabeth looked at their husbands oddly before turning back to Dimitri."I wanted to see Tim before confronting him about Don't Ask, Don't Tell being repealed, ok?!"

"Please tell me you plan on making Dimitri your bitch this time around." Anya looked up at Tim with an innocent expression, making him throw his head back in laughter as the triplets and Mischa started throwing questions at Dimitri.

"Huh?" Elizabeth asked Tim when it became clear that she wasn't going to get an answer from Dimitri. She was the only Petroviak wife who wasn't there when he and Dimitri were first together and obviously wasn't told about it. Irene and Veronica started whispering to each other in a fit of giggles, forcing Tim to make a mental note to  _not_  ask them what they were talking about.

"Dimitri and I first met when we attended MIT, Eliza." Tim began to explain. "When he and Kate got divorced, Kate pushed us to get together because she saw the attraction he and I had for each other. We were together for three years before I cut it off because he wanted to enlist. I wasn't going to let him get discharged because of me."

"Oooh!" Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. " _You_  are the ex Anya mentioned earlier when you guys first got here. I thought she meant Kate."

Anya buried her face into Tim's chest to hide her laughter from her blonde sister-in-law, leaving Tim alone in his attempt to keep a straight face. Elizabeth must have only been half listening earlier because Yuri had literally said Anya's comment was in reference to Tim.

"Yes, I am." Tim managed to get out.

"Do Deidre and Tabitha know?" Elizabeth's surprise morphed into curiosity.

"Didi and Bithy have literally known me their entire lives, so I would hope so." Tim let a chuckle escape, remembering that fateful day eighteen years previous. It was the only day he had ever willingly skipped classes.

"Wait, literally?" Veronica and Irene's giggles grew when they ended their own conversation to join in on Tim and Elizabeth's at that moment. Tim gave them both a look before turning back to Elizabeth.

"Yes. When Kate went into labor, Dimitri dragged me along instead of dropping me off at class. It was his car so it wasn't like I could tell him what to do. Anyway, Dimitri passed out in the delivery room and Kate demanded I come in and stand in his place because she didn't want to be alone. I, being the gentleman I was raised to be, acquiesced to her request. Dimitri eventually woke up and made his way back in but Kate's grip on my hand meant I wasn't moving any time soon. Dimitri simply picked up her other hand and occasionally threw smirks at me when I would fail at getting Kate to let me go."

"His car? You didn't have your own way of getting to classes?" Tim pinched Anya's arm when the young woman let out a snicker at Elizabeth's question.

"I was only sixteen at the time. I'm sorry. I probably should have been a bit more clear when I described my and Dimitri's relationship. Kate and Dimitri were divorced for well over a year when he and I finally got together. Dimitri didn't make a move until after I turned eighteen." Tim gave Elizabeth an apologetic look for causing her confusion.

"So, wait. You're only thirty four? Two years younger than Dimitri? Mischa's age?"

"Yes, Beth." Veronica stepped in. "Tim and Mischa are the same age. Tim graduated from high school a couple years early."

Veronica and Irene pulled Elizabeth's attention towards them, alleviating Tim from the duty of having to answer all her questions. It was just in time, as the middle Petroviak children were finished interrogating Dimitri. Giving Anya a mischievous look, Tim pushed her into the water before jumping in as well and making his way over to the group of brothers.

"You guys done cornering Dimitri? I'd actually like to spend some time with him on my rare day off."

"You!" Mischa suddenly grabbed Tim and pulled him into a hug. Yuri and Victor followed suit, turning it into a group hug. "Mom is going to be ecstatic when you two tell her you guys are back together. I don't think she's ever going to let you leave again, Tim."

"Ditto on that. And neither will Dad." Luka added. Tim threw Dimitri a 'help me' look, which was ignored. Payback was a bitch. Tim started to say something but was interrupted by the suddenly blasting of 'Halls of Montezuma'. It gained everyone's attention as none of them had that as a ringtone. Tim did, however, and he pulled himself away from the others and leaned up against the side of the pool.

"Dimitri, my cell. I have to answer it." Tim made a 'gimme' motion until Dimitri go up and retrieved his cell phone for him. Tim quickly answered it before it went to voice mail. "Yeah, Boss?"

" _I do hope your landlord allows you to pay for minor repairs. If he doesn't, you just lost part of your security deposit._ " Tim dropped his face into his empty hand with a groan, ignoring the wary looks he was getting from the others. They had been told that he had the day off but they weren't so naive as to think that he wouldn't get called in if needed.

"What happened?"

" _DiNozzo broke your locks._ "

"What the hell is Tony doing picking my locks?! I'm not even home!" Tim cried out, horrified. Dimitri erupted in laughter, confusing his siblings by his reaction. He knew Tony just enough to not be surprised by the man's actions.

" _Apparently going to your apartment was preferred over going to his own to nurse his hangover. He mumbled something about making you share the misery. Anyway, DiNozzo did something wrong and now neither your deadbolt or handle will lock._ " Gibbs was doing a poor job at hiding his amusement, but Tim's suspected that the older man wasn't bothering to even try.

"Please tell me he at least got barked into a raging headache by Jethro." Tim knew his dog. Without Tim home to shut him up, Jethro would bark at anyone and everyone who wasn't Sarah, Abby, or Ziva.

" _Yep..._ " Moans could be heard in the background, telling Tim that Gibbs was probably in his apartment giving Tony a critical look. Tim didn't envy the Italian man.

"Alright. I'll call my landlord. He'll need to be notified that he is going to be getting copies of new keys for my apartment. I've spoken with him about the possibility of my locks getting broken because of something work related and he agreed to not dock anything from my security deposit if it happened, just as long as I cover the repair/replacement costs."

" _Don't worry about that. DiNozzo has volunteered to purchase the new deadbolt and new door knob for you. Is there any style in particular that you would like to have?_ " Tim's lips quivered in amusement at the obligatory groans of protest that came from Tony even though he knew Tony would have paid for it, regardless of Gibbs insisting on it. Tony's guilt at causing damage because of a mistake would have insured that.

"Just make sure the colors match, Boss. What time should I tell my landlord to send the maintenance man up to install them?"

" _DiNozzo's doing that, too._ " Meaning Gibbs was going to install it and was intending to use Tony as a 'Go-fer'. " _Just tell your landlord that it's being taken care of and that we'll be dropping off copies of the keys to the manager's office when we're done._ "

"Ok. Thanks, Boss. I'm currently with Dimitri and his family, meaning I have no idea when I'll be getting home, but I'll call you when I'm about to leave so you know when to expect me."

" _Right._ " That's when Gibbs hung up. Tim locked his cell phone with a shake of his head, handing it over to Dimitri so the man could return it to the table Tim had placed it on.

"What did Tony do?" Dimitri couldn't help in asking. The laughter Tim was holding in at the absurdity of the situation finally escaped, leading to him dropping his head to the ground and laughing into the cement of the pool's edge.

"Tony, he..." Tim gasped for air, wiping away the tears that were slipping down his face. Trying to talk when he was laughing this hard was more difficult than he realized. "He's still hung over from last night. He went to my apartment to make me join in on the misery instead of going home to nurse said hang over. Tony, being Tony, tried to pick my locks instead of using the damn keys I gave him. He messed something up and now neither of my locks will, well,  _lock_. He's been volunteered to go get new ones and install them. I gotta go pick up my new keys before going home."

"Do your coworkers regularly break into your apartment?" Veronica looked at Tim, horrified, making him laugh even harder when he remembered that she was a homicide detective in Baltimore. Dimitri decided to take pity on Tim and answer for him.

"Yes, they do, Roni. Tim would be surprised if they ever actually used the spare keys he has given them." Tim nodded in agreement, unable to speak any further. He stopped laughing suddenly when his brained focused on  _Baltimore homicide detective_. Veronica would have been a regular street officer when Tony was there but she may have met him. If he was remembering it correctly, Veronica worked in the same precinct Tony had worked in.

"Veronica..." Tim paused to take a deep breath, still a bit light headed from having laughed as hard as he did. "Do you remember the names of the homicide detectives who worked at your precinct back in 2001?"

"Vaguely. Only one or two. Why?" She gave Tim a wary look at his sudden change in topic.

"Who?" Veronica rolled her eyes, muttering something about stubborn Irish men before tilting her head to think about Tim's question.

"Danny Price and Tony DiNozzo come to mind. It's hard to forget those two, even though I never actually met them. I merely saw them around the office and know them by reputation. Now why do you want to know?"

"Tony, my partner who just broke my deadbolt and door knob while trying to break into my apartment, is Tony DiNozzo." Tim grinned as an expression of shock appeared on Veronica's face.

"I have to meet him." She immediately insisted. Mischa frowned at his wife for her sudden enthusiasm about meeting a man he didn't know. "Tim, I have to meet him. I've been moved to his desk in the office. Everyone has been saying I got the 'DiNozzo Luck' because I've yet to have a case go cold since I was moved there. My coworkers are even saying I'm starting to adopt mannerisms similar to his. You do not realize how much I  _have_  to meet him."

"Ok, ok, ok..." Tim put up a hand to get Veronica to stop talking, letting out a chuckle. "How long are you and Mischa in town for?"

"Another week. We're using some of my built up vacation days."

"That's perfect. When I go home later I'll give Tony a call to see what he has planned since we're off of work for an undetermined amount of time. It won't take much to convince him. He'll agree to nearly anything as soon as I say 'Dimitri'. He and a couple other coworkers of mine have been chomping at the bit to find out more since Dimitri's little performance in the office the day he got home."

"Wait, do they  _know_?" Victor looked at Tim with disbelief. Tim immediately shook his head to dissuade any confusion.

"No, they do not know about my and Dimitri's previous relationship nor about our decision to try again. However," Tim threw Dimitri an apologetic look. "Ziva does know about your bisexuality, Dimi. She asked me about your flirting and I had to explain that you act like that with nearly everyone."

"Like I give a damn that she knows." Dimitri scoffed. That reminded Tim about their conversation that morning and he decided to drop it, turning back to Veronica.

"Anyway, it won't take much for me to manipulate Tony into doing something right now. Just pick a day."

"Day after tomorrow, then, if possible. I don't think I could wait much longer than that." Veronica waved off Mischa's attempts to insert himself in on the planning, putting her primary focus on Tim.

"Not a problem." Tim gave Mischa an amused look when the man gave up trying to get his wife's attention and went to go get more food from the table. It was the ultimately irony, considering that Mischa originally thought Veronica wasn't going to get along with the rest of his family and here she was, acting just like them.

"I gotta come with, though." Dimitri added. "I will  _not_  miss a chance of seeing Tony embarrass himself."

Tim groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had been wondering how quickly Dimitri was going to make him regret introducing him to the team. It hadn't taken long.


	9. Mom and Dad

"I hear there's a surprise guest here today!" A deep baritone voice echoed through the pool area, making Anya scramble to get out of the water.

"Daddy!" The young woman was a blur as she raced to her father, the older man mimicking his oldest son's earlier actions by catching her and twirling the two of them around. Senator Sergei Petroviak was a towering man who made his youngest child and only daughter have to go on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek, and even then she had to pull him down slightly to make the connection. It was clear which parent the Petroviak boys inherited their height from.

"Hey, Dad!" Dimitri called out with a grin as he got up to go hug his father. He wasn't quite as enthusiastic as his baby sister, but he  _was_ the only Petroviak child there who hadn't seen their father yet that day.

"Ah. Dimitri. It's always great to see you, especially now that you're home." Sergei returned the hug before letting out a smirk. "But you aren't the one I was referring to."

Snickers escaped the others as Dimitri let out a pout at his father's statement. He turned around to mock glare at one person in particular, who's snickers grew into full out laughing.

"Perfect. Even my own father prefers you over me."

"Now, now Dimitri. Behave." Sergei patted Dimitri's shoulder. "You're my first born. You'll always have that to gloat over the others."

Tim didn't remove the innocent look he was giving Dimitri as he approached the two oldest Petroviak men, but quickly turned it into a grin as he was pulled into a hug by Sergei.

"It is excellent to see you again, Tim. It has been much too long."

"Yeah. I'll have to remedy that. I'm only here today because I got the day off and Dimitri decided to kidnap me." Tim explained. He could feel the stares of anticipation digging into his back but he stubbornly ignored them. "Not that it was too difficult for him to do. I've missed you guys."

"I only had to drag you kicking and screaming to your car." Dimitri inserted. He quickly stepped back to avoid the smack Tim aimed at his stomach, sticking his tongue out at Tim when the man missed.

"What have you been up to, Tim? Whatever it is has certainly kept you in shape." Sergei ignored their antics.

"I work for NCIS, actually." Tim's look of annoyance at Dimitri turned into a proud one. "It's  _Special Agent_  Timothy McGee. I'm the Junior Agent for the MCRT."

Dimitri made faces at his brothers, mocking Tim as the man spoke about his career. Mischa and Luka made gestures back and forth between Tim and their father with the hope that their message was clear enough to Dimitri. He rolled his eyes at his two brothers for their prompting, turning his attention back to the conversation in front of him.

"Ah. So you interact with Leon Vance on a regular basis, it's safe to assume, yes?" Tim had Sergei's rapt attention.

"Yes, I do. Director Vance regularly has me do side assignments on top of my duties to the MCRT. Not many field agents have the academic background I do." Tim continued. A sudden clench grew in his stomach in anticipation of something, making him a tad confused. Tim was about to turn and say something to the others, thinking that maybe it had to do with Veronica having heard of Tony, when he was grabbed and jerked sideways. Tim barely got out a cry of surprise before he was silenced by a pair of lips on his own and suddenly everything became clear. His gut was warning him about Dimitri, not telling him to mention Tony to Sergei. He relaxed into the kiss, sensing the look of surprise coming from the older man he had just been speaking to, but didn't pull away. Tim would let Dimitri tell his parents how he saw fit.

"Well..." Sergei gaped for a few seconds when Dimitri finally let Tim pull away. "I take it you didn't actually drag him kicking and screaming to his car. Did you, Dimitri?"

"Nope!" Dimitri grinned at his father. "In fact, the only place Tim did any screaming was..."

"Dimitri!" Tim hissed with a glare. "Do  _not_  make me revoke your team visitation privileges."

"Aww, come on!" Sergei looked on with bemusement as his son gave Tim puppy eyes that weren't really working. He was impressed. Tim would have capitulated had it been fifteen years previous.

" _No_ , Dimitri." Tim replied in a stern tone.

"It is nice to see that you are going to make Dimitri work for it this time around, Tim." Sergei commented before Dimitri could say anything against Tim's refusal. "Welcome back to the family. Warn me before you two tell Nadia."

Sergei gave Tim one last pat on the shoulder before heading over to his other children, ignoring the look of abandonment and betrayal his oldest was giving him. If Dimitri wanted to push Tim's buttons, Sergei figured, then he could deal with the consequences.

* * *

 

Tim rubbed at his hair with a towel as he stepped out of the shower stall, feeling a lot more comfortable now that the chlorine was washed off him. The towel joined the swimming trunks he used down the laundry chute shortly before Tim put on the clean pair of boxers he had brought into the bathroom with him. He could hear music playing in Dimitri's room and ventured a guess that the man had turned it on as he picked out fresh clothes to wear. Tim sometimes wondered if Dimitri put in an effort to define the stereotypical 'flaming gay' or if it just came naturally.

"Seriously, Dimi? Wild Cherry?" Tim motioned towards the stereo system as he entered the bedroom.

"Play that funky music, white boy! Play that funky right!" Dimitri sang back at Tim before dancing his way into his closet with a shirt he obviously decided against wearing. Tim rolled his eyes, silently wondering to himself what he saw in the juvenile marine.

Tim was more than happy to put back on the same clothes from that morning, washed, ironed, and folded in a neat pile on the end of Dimitri's bed, and was soon lounged back against the headboard as he waiting for Dimitri to get dressed. A neon yellow photo album on the nightstand caught his eye and Tim couldn't help but grab it. The word 'Ada' was artistically painted in the center of the blinding fabric, hinting to Tim was was inside. The word was, after all, elvish. He was not disappointed when he opened the cover to see a picture of two identical, teenaged girls dressed to the nines in their full prom wear. A picture Tim, himself, had in a photo album at home. He let out a small laugh as he looked over Deidre and Tabitha in the picture. Despite being identical twins, their personalities obviously clashed.

Deidre's dress was bright red, form fitting, and spunky. It had only the one strap going over her right shoulder, it cut off mid thigh, and Tim would highly bet that the only reason why she got away with wearing a dress that short was because Dimitri wasn't there to veto it. Tim had to admit, though, that Deidre made the dress work. Having stud earrings be her only jewelry was a nice touch, making her seem all the more feisty with her hair flowing free and ruby heels that looked like they could double for ice picks. The athlete in her obviously wasn't shy about showing what she had. Tabitha, on the other hand, looked like a princess in her green, floor length gown that blossomed out at her waist and matching rhinestone tiara anchored in her then-curled hair. Tabitha's lack of straps put a small focus on the emerald necklace around her neck, a nice match with the green bangles around her wrists and emerald pumps. Both girls were grinning at the camera, their eyes sparkling brighter than any piece of jewelry they could have worn.

"I still can't believe Kate let her wear that thing." Dimitri hissed, making Tim jump from his sudden appearance next to him. Tim barely hid an amused smile at Dimitri's dislike for Deidre's dress, flipping the page to browse more pictures of the girls.

"The girls look absolutely gorgeous in their prom dresses, Dimitri. Be glad they have very faithful boyfriends to keep the other boys away."

"And what makes you so sure those  _boys_  are faithful?" Tim gave Dimitri a 'Are you kidding me?' look.

"I have done background checks on both Ian  _and_  Keith. They have spotless records. Not to mention Kate has told them that five marines and a federal agent will be there to kick their asses if they even thought about hurting either of the girls. Those boys have the fear of God in them. They're not going to do anything." Dimitri merely grunted, not wanting to verbalize his acknowledgment that Tim had a point. "Not to mention they'd both fit right in. Keith will be enlisting in the Marine Corp and Ian's been accepted at Annapolis. Trust me, Dimi. Your baby girls have found two young men who will spoil them more than you do."

Dimitri leaned over to press a kiss onto Tim's lips, smirking slightly as he pulled away.

"Tim.  _You_  spoil the girls more than I do. Or, at least, you spoil  _Tabitha_  more than I do. The criteria for Ian should be if he spoils Tabitha more than  _you_." Tim quickly pushed Dimitri away with a hand to the face, rolling his eyes at the explosion of laughter he got.

"Come on, before your mother comes looking for us. Dinner should be done by now." Tim put the album back on Dimitri's nightstand as he got up, heading for the door. Dimitri let out an overly dramatic moan of protest before dragging himself off his bed and after Tim.

* * *

"It's been so great seeing you again, Timothy. When do you think you will next get a free day?" Nadia asked across the table just before she spooned some of her soup into her mouth.

"Actually, tomorrow." Tim laughed. "There's a few hoops the agents in Legal have to jump through before my team can get back to work. It's a pain in the ass when the defendant's lawyers find a loophole that lets them cut off our access to the evidence, but it's an evil we gotta deal with every once in while."

"So you're kidnapping Tim again, tomorrow?" Anya asked Dimitri, ignoring the look Tim threw her direction.

"No, he's not." Tim answered before Dimitri could speak. He turned to give Nadia an apologetic look. "I had promised Sarah that I'd spend tomorrow with her once I was done with work. Since I have tomorrow off, I was going to surprise her with breakfast."

"Understandable. You are certainly a devoted brother, Timothy." Nadia smiled. The Petroviak children all exchanged looks, judging each other.

"I only have the one sibling, Nadia. It ain't hard." Tim grinned. Sergei chuckled at the expressions on his children's faces as they continued to judge each other.

"Nadia, darling, stop making our children sell themselves short. Now, Tim, is it true you work with Tony DiNozzo? Veronica hasn't been able to stop talking about him all afternoon."

"Yes." Tim nodded, throwing an amused expression in Veronica's direction. She blushed darkly as she slouched in her seat. "Tony's my partner and a very close friend of mine. I agreed to arrange a meeting with him for Veronica. I may have to bribe him with coming here to visit, if that isn't imposing..."

"Oh, feel free to bring him here!" Nadia boasted loudly.

"The more the merrier, Tim. We'd be happy to host your friend as you introduce him to Veronica. Then we can decide for ourselves just how much like Agent Tommy he really is." Sergei let out a mischievous look as he inserted the dig about Deep Six, telling Tim that he knew about that as well.

"Are you sure you wanna bring Tony here, Tim?" Dimitri asked. Tim gave him a confused look, not understanding the point of the question. "Wouldn't the world implode from having two such similar personalities in one building?"

"Gibbs' house survived it. I'm sure your parents' manor will, as well." Tim shot back. "I'd be more concerned about Tony flirting with all the women in the house, including those on the staff."

"I think we can handle that." Anya waved off Tim's concern.

"Tony is a professional playboy, Anya. I swear, sometimes I think it's literally in his job description. As the only single woman here, expect a  _lot_  of attention from him." Tim insisted. The looks on her brothers' faces had him back tracking, though. "Don't get me wrong. He's not going to try to get anything from you. It's just his default setting to flatter and flirt with nearly every woman in existence. Kinda like Dimitri."

"Hey!" Dimitri protested, pulling snickers from all his siblings. "I don't..."

"Yes, you do." Tim interrupted, turning to Dimitri. "You flirt with  _everyone_. Don't think I didn't notice all the blatant flirting you did with Abby and Ziva. You're just lucky you didn't flirt with Tony or Gibbs. They would have kicked your ass. Especially Gibbs."

"I flirted with Ziva because DiNozzo was asking for it. Or did you not see the looks of irritation he kept on throwing my way?" The rest of the Petroviak family watched on in amusement as Tim and Dimitri debated back and forth, Nadia's look more bemusement than amusement. Something about their interaction was familiar to her.

"Yes, I saw the looks Tony was giving you. I was worried I'd have to stop him from jumping you, and not in the good way." Tim scolded with a frown. "But only because it's literally my job to protect you. If you do something that gets Tony, of all people, willing to resort to physical violence then you deserve to get your ass kicked."

"You wound me with your apathy, Timothy." Dimitri returned with a tone of sarcasm.

"What's going on here?" Nadia inserted, thinning her eyes out at the two of them. They each turned and gave her an innocent look, each for a different reason. Tim, because he thought he was doing nothing wrong. Dimitri, because he knew exactly what his mother was talking about and wanted to make her work for the reveal. The rest of the Petroviak's studiously turned their attentions to their dinner plates to keep themselves from laughing. "Don't look at me like that. You two have known each other since you first started attending MIT. In all those years, I've only seen you two bicker like this when..."

Tim took on a confused expression for a few moments when Nadia's eyes suddenly widened in shock. In his memory, he and Dimitri had always bickered like this. The vibrations of amusement coming off Dimitri explained the sudden change in Nadia's expression, though, when Tim realized that Dimitri had pushed for a topic that would get them arguing. The two of them may have always bickered with each other but they had only been open about doing it in front of each other's families after they had gotten together. Why, that sneaky...

"Dimitri, I think you broke your mother." Tim turned back to the man next to him.

"Wait, how is it all  _my_  fault? You participated!" Dimitri objected.

"Because you just couldn't be straightforward about it, like you were with your father and the others. You had to be sly about it and make her confused before she figured out what was going on." Tim explained.

"You two are back together?!" Nadia let out in a girlish shriek, interrupting the two of them again. Tim gave her a smile and a nod, elbowing Dimitri when he took on a look that said he was considering the answer. Sergei made a show of rubbing at his ears as if he had been deafened as his wife rushed up from her seat and around the table to grab both of the younger men into a tight hug. "Oh, my god, you two are back together. The girls are going to be so excited! Wait...do they know yet?"

"No, Mom." Dimitri looked up at his mother with a smile as he pulled away. "The girls don't know yet. Neither does Kate. We have, literally, only discussed it at length just this morning. Quite understandably, Tim and I have a few more issues to deal with this time around."

Tim nodded along in agreement when Nadia threw a glance his way.

"Dimitri has the luxury of being able to tell others to go to hell, Nadia." He began to explain. "I don't. While I'm sure a few of my coworkers will be more than accepting, there are many that I'm not so sure about and they could make my life at NCIS very difficult if they wanted to. It's simply a matter of figuring out who I can trust and dealing with it."

"If NCIS becomes a hostile work environment for you, Timothy, then you shouldn't work there." Nadia insisted, not seeing why he would have to 'deal' with harassment.

"Mom, no." Dimitri quickly stepped in when a torn expression appeared on Tim's face at the suggestion. "Tim  _wants_  to work for NCIS. He  _wants_  to be a part of the MCRT. He has what he wants. He shouldn't let anyone take it from him so easily. If any of Tim's coworkers decide to start causing problems, they will be dealt with. From one Gunny to another, I already know Gibbs will deal with them without even having to speak to him about it."

"Ah. Special Agent Jethro Gibbs..." Sergei began. "I have heard much about his reputation. Nadia, Dimitri speaks the truth. Gibbs is not a man who deals with things lightly and will make anyone rue the day they mess with any of this people. Tim has a strong foundation of support, should anything happen with his coworkers at NCIS."

Nadia looked back and forth between the three of them with a frown before settling on Tim.

"You're an honorary Petroviak. Remember that. Someone messes with one of us, they mess with all of us." She bent down to press a kiss onto Tim's temple, giving Dimitri a quick one as well before heading back around the table to return to her seat. Tim and Dimitri exchanged a few silent looks, each of them mentally hoping the day where Nadia goes to NCIS to confront someone would never come.


	10. Surprising Sarah

Hugs were exchanged between everyone in the entry hall as Tim and Dimitri prepared to leave.

"No, Mom. I'm not staying with Tim tonight." Dimitri shot down his mother's nosy questioning. "My car is at his place. I just plan on picking it up and coming straight home."

"Have a safe drive home, Victor and Irene." Tim smiled at the couple, who were also getting ready to leave.

"We will. I'm just worried about us still having a home to go to. We haven't left the kids alone for this long before." Irene joked.

"I'm sure everything will be intact." Tim joked back.

"Now come on, McPet. You've got a bed time..." Dimitri smirked as he turned away from his mother, finally placating her. Tim glared at him for the pot shot, but it mostly went ignored. "I don't want Gibbs kicking my ass because you've learned to sleep through your alarm clock."

"Speaking of, we need to stop by his place first. Tony texted me earlier. My new keys are at Gibbs' house." Tim's glare turned into a mischievous grin.

"Right..." Dimitri hesitated. After having spent the previous evening there, Dimitri knew that Gibbs' house was touchy territory. Tim would never forgive him if he revealed anything to Gibbs before Tim was ready for the older man to find out. And now that they were officially together again, Dimitri wasn't entirely sure about his ability to keep his hands to himself. "You can run in by yourself."

"Good idea." Tim answered with a slight tone of sarcasm, recognizing the anxious look on Dimitri's face.

"Have a nice day with Sarah tomorrow!" Anya inserted herself between Tim and Dimitri, ignoring her brother's protests at her action. She went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss into Tim's cheek, pulling away with a grin on her face.

"I will, Anya. Thanks." Tim kissed Anya on her forehead. "I'll tell her you say hi."

"Come on." Dimitri let out in a whine, pulling eye rolls from Tim and his siblings. "The more you delay here, the more I'm going to delay when we get back to your apartment. And, as I said, you've got a bed time."

"You are more than welcome to stay the night at my apartment, Dimitri. Threatening to delay my 'bed time' isn't going to make me move any faster." Tim shot back. He stepped away from Anya anyway, knowing they really did need to get going. "You are, after all, going to be  _staying_ at my place while your parents hold all their events."

"That's beside the point." Dimitri retorted back. "I'm coming back home,  _tonight_."

"And I don't have work tomorrow! Hell, no one is expecting to see me tomorrow until late afternoon. I can wake up late." Tim let out a smug, winning grin. Dimitri couldn't argue about a so-called bed time when it wasn't a 'school' night. Tim waved good bye one last time to the others as the group of them snickered at his and Dimitri's argument before heading out the door, Dimitri pouting over his loss close behind. The two of them remained silent until Tim was already pulling the car out of the driveway.

"How are you telling Sarah, tomorrow?" Dimitri spoke up, back to his normal self. Tim rolled his eyes in amusement. The man pouted like there was no tomorrow when he lost the smallest of spats, but it certainly didn't take long for Dimitri to bounce back.

"I'm just going to straight out tell her. She already knows you, Dimitri. There's no need to worry about introductions and getting her used to the idea." Tim answered. "What about Kate and the girls?"

"I'll tell Deidre and Tabitha, myself, but I think you and I should tell Kate together before I do that." Dimitri's sudden serious tone had Tim looking back and forth between him and the road.

"Dimi..." Tim started, letting the Marine know he noticed the tone change. Dimitri sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Ok, I've been thinking about what you said this morning. All day, actually."

"That had to hurt." Tim couldn't help but inject, despite the direction their discussion seemed to be taking. He pursed his lips together when Dimitri threw a glare in his direction, trying very hard not to laugh out loud.

"As I was saying..." Dimitri began again. "I've been thinking. I know I told you that you need to adopt an attitude as far as certain things are concerned, but we don't really need to cause any trouble if we can prevent it."

"Meaning?" Tim gave Dimitri the McEyebrow, the first since the man returned home.

"We should probably get Kate and the girls up to speed on everything before we let Ethan find out." Tim remained silent for a few moments, digesting what Dimitri had just suggested. So that's what Dimitri meant by what he had said that morning.

"What changed your mind about Ethan?" Tim finally said after he wrapped his mind around everything.

"Ultimately? What you told Mom during dinner. I can easily tell the man to go to hell because he can't keep me from my children or the mother of my children. That is a war he just will not win. But God only knows who Ethan is friends with in the Navy Yard. He's part of Internal Affairs for the FBI. He's got friends all over the place. Oh, wait. I'm sorry. He's part of the  _Office of Professional Responsibility_. Like having a PC name will hide the fact that he's in a well hated branch of nearly every law enforcement agency in existence!"

" _But_..." Tim interrupted Dimitri's ranting before the other man could get on a roll. "I have friends in higher places. So what if Ethan knows people in IA at NCIS? In case you have forgotten, I've got Gibbs and Director Vance on my side. And through Vance, I've got SecNav. Ethan will  _not_  be able to do anything that will get me fired, laid off, or some other variant of that action. My record is impeccable."

"I'm not worried about him getting you fired." Dimitri moaned, rubbing a hand over his face again. Anxiety did not work well on Dimitri.

"Then what? Dimitri, I've survived through  _worse_  than what Ethan is capable of dishing out."

"So you would just be more than glad to suddenly transfer to a different team, in a different region?" Dimitri shot back.

"Where on Earth is  _that_  coming from? There are only three possible ways that could ever get me to leave the team. Gibbs finally gets fed up with me and kicks me off, Tony isn't given the team leader position after Gibbs dies or retires, or I die. There are  _no_ other alternatives."

"Because of Dad I am  _painfully_ aware of how the world of politics works, Timmy. It's a lot more complex than what field agents are exposed to." Tim hissed in irritation, ending his back and forth attention turning to put all of his focus on the road.

"Regardless, Ethan would have to resort to political blackmail and extortion to do anything to me in NCIS. If he's really that stupid then he would deserve the backlash that would happen. There is a  _very_  good reason why Gibbs has lasted through so many Directors." Tim summarized. His lack of inflection told Dimitri everything Tim felt about the subject. He felt that Dimitri was being an idiot and getting worked up over the wrong things.

"Fine. We'll discuss this later." Dimitri gave up. He wasn't the writer, Tim was. He just didn't have the proper vocabulary to correctly express his sudden concern over Ethan. Perhaps sleeping on it would help.

* * *

Tim made his way through the Waverly campus with a mild look of amusement. It was just after 8 o'clock, hardly  _early_  by most standards, and yet all the students around him dragged themselves around in their pajamas looking like death warmed over. When he discovered that Sarah was already awake when he stopped by her dorm, Tim immediately knew to head straight to the commons. And, unlike most of her classmates, Sarah would be eating her breakfast freshly bathed and completely dressed for the day. A small habit that they both had picked up from their father. It would make her easy to spot in the crowd of mindless zombies that made up the rest of the student population that morning.

A few moments after he stepped into the commons area, Tim had a feeling Sarah would know he was there before he found her. He could hear a few nearby students whispering to each other, somehow remembering him from the murder investigation a handful of years previous. They must be in Sarah's year if they truly  _did_  remember him and, like any other school cafeteria, gossip spread faster than fire when the gossipers actually knew what they were talking about.

As expected, Sarah's eyes where shining in silent laughter when Tim finally found her on the far side of the commons, a smile appear on his own face as he approached the table. Sarah's friends all gave meager greetings, still waking up, but they mostly when ignored by the two McGee's.

"Tim, you didn't call to say you were coming! Is everything alright?" Sarah let out between giggles. Tim's laid back demeanor made no allusion to anything serious, so she was free to laugh at how his appearance was causing a minor uproar among the other students.

"Everything is fine, Sarah." Tim took up the empty chair to her left, throwing amused glances at her friends when they seemed content with no longer having to maintain a conversation. "Lawyer issues at work, so Vance ordered us not to bother coming in to work. Today is Day Two of my surprise vacation, so I decided to try and surprise you with breakfast without waking you up too early. It's obvious my timing was slightly off."

"I'll say. I haven't been here long. I probably arrived when you started knocking on my door." Sarah gave her big brother a smirk.

"Then you can foist off your food to one of the others here. I made the decision to come this early for a reason and I'm sure you'll enjoy eating something other than cafeteria food."

"Definitely." Sarah didn't hesitate to push her tray across the table to her friends, standing up with a smile. "Breakfast with my big brother sounds loads more entertaining than trying to get  _these_  creatures known as my friends talking."

"Hey..." One moaned in protest at the jab, muffled slightly by the table since they didn't lift their forehead from the surface. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head as Tim let out a chuckle, fondly remembering how his own friends were like back in college.

"Come on. We've got a full day ahead of us." Tim latched his arm around Sarah's shoulders and began leading her back towards the entrance to the commons.

* * *

"Ok, what is really going on?" Sarah asked without looking up from her menu. Tim barely glanced up in recognition of the question before returning to his eyes back to his own menu. He thought over his options, both on what to eat and how to answer Sarah's question, for a few moments before coming to a decision on how to continue.

"Dimitri is back state-side." Silence fell over the table as Sarah digested Tim's simple statement. The context in which Tim was telling her this meant a lot more than if he had just said it in passing in an email or during one of their phone calls to each other.

"You two are getting back together." Sarah smirked in amusement as she finally lowered her menu. Tim nodded in confirmation, setting his own menu down to face his sister.

"He got back home a few days ago and we only made the decision to get back together yesterday morning."

"Well, it certainly didn't take him long to jump you." Sarah quipped with a mischievous look.

"Sarah..." Tim thinned his eyes out.

"What?!" She burst out laughing. "I'm happy for you, Tim. You and Dimitri are perfect for each other. I knew it was only a matter of time before you two got back together."

"You are in agreement with his siblings, then. They all expressed various forms of surprise yesterday when I was at the manor with them and their parents."

"Speaking of, you going to tell Mom and Dad any time soon?" Tim was prevented from answering as their waitress came up to take their orders, but he immediately got back on topic after the woman walked away.

"I really want to tell them in person. Everyone else was. Or will be, since Dimitri and I agreed to tell Kate and the girls together, but I have to find a day off to tell them. And with this hectic case going on I don't know how long it'll be until I get enough guaranteed time off to drive back home to see them." Tim fiddled with the wrapper from his straw as he removed it.

"Mom and Dad will understand if you tell them over the phone, Tim. You haven't lived in Norfolk for several years now." Sarah took a sip of her orange juice before changing directions. It was up to Tim on how to tell their parents, so she wasn't going to argue. "What about the team? Last time I checked, they all still had thoughts about you and Abby getting back together."

"I don't know." Tim groaned. "It's not like I've let any of them in on the fact that I swing both ways. Not even Abby knows that."

"Then maybe you should work your way through the team. Tell them one at a time. Considering how you process and plan things, it would be less stressful for you." Sarah suggested. Tim couldn't help but nod in agreement. He's have an anxiety attack if he told the whole team at once. No, one at a time was the way to go.

"Who should I tell first?" Tim looked at his baby sister as if she held all the answers. Nadia's comment the previous night about him being a devoted older brother wasn't exactly wrong, despite him saying he only had the one sibling to focus on. The web of relationships between the Petroviak children was chaotic at best, and they certainly were loyal to each other, but it took all of them combined to be equal to what the two McGee children felt towards each other. When one was lost, the other would be there to help guide them back. Tim had tried to explain it to Dimitri once but the older man kept on comparing it to how he interacted with  _all_  his siblings. Having all of that with only one person just didn't register in his head.

"Gibbs." Sarah didn't hesitate. "He's your boss. If you run into trouble with anyone else, even though I doubt you will, having him know everything will help quell any possible arguments or altercations. Not to mention the fact that I don't see Gibbs having even the slightest issue. He transferred you to his team because of your abilities. He's not going to kick you off because of your personal life."

"Point taken." Tim took a long drink of his milk. He was glad he decided to surprise Sarah with breakfast instead of waiting to see her until that afternoon. Tim needed this discussion done and over with. Fretting over it all day wouldn't have done him any good. "After Gibbs?"

Sarah quirked her lips as she thought that question over. She had different levels of understanding of each of Tim's team mates, so who to go with next wasn't an easy suggestion to make. It was borderline random.

"Ziva." The name escaped Sarah's lips before she completely thought it over, but after a few seconds she found that she didn't regret it. "She wasn't raised under American ideals. You said so yourself that she is very understanding of many things that would be considered taboo here because of her Mossad training. I think if you tell Gibbs and Ziva first, telling everyone else will come naturally."

"Alright. I'll do that." Tim let out a sigh of relief to have the biggest topic out of the way. As expected, Sarah didn't even bat an eyelash at the news of him and Dimitri getting back together. That she immediately began to help him figure out how to tell his team mates was a plus. He'd have to think of a really nice gift for her birthday coming up.


	11. Telling Gibbs

Tim glanced occasionally to the desk across from his. That was one downside of the desk arrangement in the Bull Pen. Every time he looked at his computer screen, Gibbs was visible in the corner of his sight. It made sitting still extremely difficult and earned him a few comments from Tony throughout the day, as well as the new nickname 'McFidget'. Tim was sure Gibbs knew he was the reason for the uneasiness, if the slight questioning look thrown back at him was anything to go by.

"Alright. Pack up." Gibbs called when the sun had fully set. Tony and Ziva didn't need to be told twice and were quick to head to the elevator, arguing over something in hissed tones. Tim froze in his seat when Gibbs' full gaze was turned on him for the first time all day. "McGee."

"Yes, Boss?" Tim certainly did not squeak out.

"Has there been something on my face all day?" Gibbs deadpanned. Tim hated Gibbs' dry sense on humor, sometimes. He really did.

"No." Tim rapidly shook his head.

"Have I sprouted a second head?"

"No."

"Then what is it?" Tim bit his lip at the question. He was perfectly happy with being able to give single syllable answers.

"Uhh..." Tim began. He was going to follow through with Sarah's suggestion to tell Gibbs, he would make himself do it, but he didn't want to tell the man about Dimitri here at the Navy Yard. Someone could overhear them. "Door unlocked?"

That made Gibbs go silent for a few moments, remembering a comment Ducky had said to him years ago. ' _Young Timothy is like Caitlin, Jethro. He doesn't truly need us like the others do'_. Not once, since joining the team, had Tim retreated to Gibbs' basement. He had a loving family to fall back on outside of work. This was serious if Tim was planning on taking Gibbs up on his standing offer to everyone on the team.

"Always." Gibbs finally replied. Tim nodded, lowering his head back to his computer to turn it off. Gibbs eyed his fidgeting agent for a few more seconds before collecting his own gear to leave. He had intended to stay a few hours longer, but Tim's question had sent his gut churning.

* * *

Gibbs was impressed. The first time he had stuck a glass of bourbon in front of DiNozzo, the man chugged it like it was water. Not a mistake he made again. McGee, on the other hand, immediately began sipping it. Gibbs acknowledged the fact that this was probably habit from McGee's choice alcohol, wine, but he was impressed nonetheless.

Grabbing a fresh piece of sandpaper, Gibbs began scraping at his latest project as he pondered how to deal with Tim. Beginning a conversation would be a bit awkward. Gibbs had no idea what kind of problem made McGee finally retreat to his basement for the first time. What he  _did_ know was that Tim wasn't going to be the one to break the silence of the room. He wasn't Tony or Abby.

"Have Abby and Ziva been giving you a break about your friend since our Team Night the other day?" Gibbs figured that was a good place to start to get Tim talking. The team, in general, was usually a neutral topic with anyone.

Tim, on the other hand, thought Gibbs had already figured everything out and froze like a deer caught in headlights. He hadn't considered the idea that Gibbs already knew. In reality, he should have known better. According to Abby, Gibbs was psychic.

"Umm...ummm..." Tim began to stutter. "Y...yeah. I haven't heard a peep from them about Dimitri since then."

"Good." Gibbs frowned at Tim's stress-induced stutter. He knew for a fact that McGee hadn't gotten into an argument with either woman in the last two days. Abby was more than welcoming towards McGee every time he was sent down to her lab and Ziva wasn't giving McGee the silent treatment. That left one other person. "McGee, did something happen to your friend? You need time off?"

"What?!" Tim spoke up with clarity, surprised at the questions. "Why would you think that something happened to Dimitri?"

"Whatever is putting you on edge obviously has to do with him, McGee. Just trying to figure out what it is." Gibbs replied calmly, a bit glad that shock would snap McGee out of his stuttering habit if it made another reappearance.

"Well, he's fine. He's currently packing a suitcase since he'll be staying at my place over the weekend while his parents hold a charity event at the manor." Tim informed Gibbs. He took another long sip of the bourbon he was given, realizing that Gibbs  _hadn't_  figured it out completely. Just enough to know that it had something to do with Dimitri.

"Then what's wrong?" Gibbs changed tactics from being casual about it to the blunt approach. McGee was a Navy Brat. He wouldn't be even the slightest bit offended by it, like his gregarious team mates might have. And it seemed to be the best approach as McGee was taking in a deep breath like someone would usually do to calm themselves.

"Dimitri and I were together for three years before he joined the Marine Corp." Tim occupied his mouth with another drink of his bourbon as soon as he was done talking, not really wanting to look his boss in the face as the man digested that tidbit of information.

"And?" Gibbs asked a few moments later, not seeing how that could possibly be the reason Tim retreated to his basement. His question earned him a confused look from Tim, making him sigh. Gibbs realized he would have to spell it out to Tim that he wasn't old school about  _everything_. "What does the second B stand for, McGee?"

"Bastard."

"Anything else?"

"No..." The confused expression didn't leave Tim's face.

"I'm not a bigot, McGee. Believe me, if I was then I certainly wouldn't be tolerating half of the things Abby does."

"Oh..." Tim let out in a quiet voice, sounding a bit like a child who thought they were going to get yelled at only to discover they did nothing wrong.

"Why is your past history with your friend putting you on edge now? We all should only be so lucky to get along with our exes like you do." The whole conversation amused Gibbs slightly but he was extremely careful to make sure it didn't appear on his face. Wherever this was going was plainly important, otherwise McGee would have just talked to him back at the Yard. ' _Wait_ ,' Gibbs thought. ' _The Yard'_.

"Uhh..." Tim began, not knowing how to correct his Boss.

"Your relationship isn't exactly  _history_  anymore, is it?" Gibbs asked slowly, doing the correcting for McGee.

"No, it's not." Tim slowly shook his head. The stone that had been in his gut since he had arrived at Gibbs' house lifted, happy that Gibbs was so good at his job as an investigator. He was capable of filling in the blanks with ease. "When Dimitri joined the Corps, I broke it off because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I didn't want him to get discharged because of me. It would have been easy to hide, sure. We're bisexuals, not homosexuals, and wouldn't exactly have had to pretend to be attracted to any woman we came across, but I didn't want to risk it. He confronted me about it the other day."

"Because that idiotic policy was repealed and your reason was no longer valid." Gibbs added.

"Because it got repealed." Tim repeated in confirmation. His gaze moved away from Gibbs again, settling on the last of the bourbon in his glass as he set it down on Gibbs' workbench. He had officially come out to his boss and wasn't feeling as on edge as before. The bourbon was probably helping, but that didn't change the fact that Sarah had been right. Telling Gibbs first was a tad cathartic.

"Tim," Gibbs began. The rare use of his first name and brief pause after it dragged Tim's eyes back up to the older man. "I'm  _proud_  of you. I'm sure telling anyone not already in the know about you that you and Petroviak are getting together is nerve wracking. I know I certainly wouldn't have been able to put myself on the line like that if my and Shannon's relationship had been viewed the same way yours will be. I'm glad you have someone you love so much that you're willing to take such risks. It's about time someone in our dysfunctional group found someone else. I was worried only Palmer would."

The corner of Tim's mouth twitched at the comment about Jimmy, but the unexpected sting growing in his eyes kept him silent. It was in that moment that Tim realized that he wouldn't have known what to do if Gibbs had turned away from him. Sure, he had  _known_  that Gibbs was going to support him. His talk with Sarah the day before made that abundantly clear. But it was one thing to know something and another thing entirely to actually hear it.

The film of tears in McGee's eyes didn't go unnoticed by Gibbs. They solidified the fact that Tim was  _not_  like his teammates. Not quite as expressive as Abby, but certainly not stoic like Tony or Ziva. And definitely the most naive. As bubbly as she appeared, even Abby had plenty of experience with disappointment from someone she had thought was part of her support system. Tim's constant support from his family made him lacking in said experience.

"It..." Tim had to pause right away to make sure he didn't start crying. "It was Sarah's idea to tell you first. She was insistent that having your support would be essential if I ran into any trouble as I started telling people. I didn't know what to do, which of you guys to tell first, how to do it. Talking...talking with Sarah yesterday helped me iron a few things out."

And there was the reason Abby had taken to McGee like a moth to a flame. McGee probably wasn't even trying and yet he managed to make a simple explanation sound like an apology. The 'Mother Me' vibes came off him in waves when he did that. Gibbs wasn't entirely immune, either, as it sent his paternal instincts through the wringer. No longer able to resist a reaction to McGee's relief that this entire discussion didn't go FUBAR, Gibbs slipped off his stool and pulled his emotional agent into a hug. He was sure that McGee had quite an interesting story to tell about his relationship with Petroviak, but that was a discussion for a different day.


	12. Ziva's Reaction

" _So, how did he take it?_ " Sarah asked the moment she answered her phone. Tim calling this early in the morning meant only one thing.

"Gibbs...well, he was accepting. He even said he was proud of me for having the courage to tell him." Tim rattled off, his nerves still calming down from all the work he put them through the previous night. "I can definitely tell that he's not going to tolerate anyone singling me out at work once word gets around. And it  _will_."

" _As long as your team mates are accepting of you, Tim, it doesn't matter what the rest of the agency thinks. Are you going to tell Ziva today?_ "

"I'm considering it. Dimitri got held up with some paperwork issues yesterday, so he ended up staying at the manor last night. I haven't had the chance to tell him that I told Gibbs."

" _Dimitri isn't going to begrudge you telling your team mates at your pace. You're not as outgoing as he is._ " Tim sighed when he realized that Sarah was right. Dimitri wouldn't have any problem with going public about their relationship, but he would also wait if need be. Tim being unsure about his support system was a good reason for Dimitri to wait.

"You're right. Of course you're right." Tim frowned to himself as he paced back and forth in his bedroom. "I'll try to tell Ziva during lunch. It's her turn to run out and get it, today. I can volunteer to go with her."

" _Good plan. Now, is that all you needed? It's six in the morning._ " Tim let out a laugh at Sarah's whining tone.

"Yeah. Go back to bed. I might call you tonight."

" _Alright. Talk to you later."_ Sarah didn't wait for Tim to say good bye before hanging up. Shaking his head in amusement, Tim tossed his cell onto his bed and focused on getting ready for work.

* * *

"I'll go with you, Ziva. I have to wait for my searches to do their job, anyway." Tim gave her a smile as he stood up from his desk.

"Thank you, McGee. I would appreciate the company." Ziva smiled in return as she began collecting her things. Tony, like Ziva, didn't bat an eyelash at Tim's offer and kept his own attention on his work. It was not unheard of for Tim to offer to go with either of them on their lunch runs. Gibbs, however, gave Tim a knowing look over the rim of his coffee. Pointedly ignoring Gibbs' look, considering the older man wasn't even expecting a reaction, Tim collected his own things and headed towards the elevator with Ziva. They threw ideas about the case back and forth as they descended to the main floor, keeping the conversation going until they were in Ziva's car.

"I do hope we didn't scare away your friend the other day." Ziva commented once they were out of the Yard, switching discussion topics. "Gibbs mentioned yesterday that he did not look too happy near the end of the night."

"Dimitri was just annoyed by how often you and Abby compared him to Tony. He actually had a lot of fun." Tim placated her. He was a bit surprised that Ziva was the one to turn the discussion towards Dimitri, but after a few moments of consideration he realized he should have expected it.

"That is good. I would hate to make things awkward for you. I know you do not like to choose between your friends. Having him dislike us would undoubtedly cause that situation." Ziva nodded in acknowledgment, clearly pleased that they hadn't caused Tim any trouble. Tim, on the other hand, was mentally jumping for joy that Ziva had inadvertently handed him the perfect opportunity to transition the discussion to the reason he came with in the first place.

"About that..." Tim began, prompting a furrowed brow from Ziva. "Remember the discussion we had the day Dimitri got back state-side?"

"Yes. Quite clearly. You were rather adamant in saying that he is more than what we saw that day."

"I...wasn't entirely truthful in that conversation." Ziva chanced looking away from the road to throw Tim a surprised look at his admission. "I mean, what I told you was entirely the truth. I just left a few details out."

"What details?" Ziva asked as she turned her attention back on the road. "You are not one to omit details, McGee."

"I know I'm not. It's just...it's not an easy topic to talk about."

"And?" Ziva prodded.

"Dimitri and I were together for a few years before he joined the Marine Corp." Tim finally admitted.

"He is your ex?" Ziva asked with a slight tone of surprise. "I had not known that you have had relationships with both women and men."

"Yes. I, like Dimitri, am bisexual. I'm simply a bit more modest about my dating history than everyone else at the Yard."

"Understandable..." Ziva trailed off, thinking over the bit of information Tim had just given her. Tim looked at her in amusement. He had just given her a piece of information that he had kept secret from everyone at work and she barely reacted. "Does Tony know? Does  _Abby_?"

"No, neither Abby nor Tony know about this. The only other person outside my and Dimitri's families who know about this is Gibbs. I told him just last night."

"What do you mean by 'this'? What is 'this'?" Ziva threw Tim a look, catching him on his wording. Tim's amused look turned into a smile. It widened into a grin when an expression of sudden clarity appeared on Ziva's face. "You and Dimitri have gotten back together."

"Yes. Yes, we have." Tim nodded. "He cornered me at my apartment after our team night, confronting me about how my reason for breaking up was no longer valid."

"You called off the relationship? Why?" Ziva slipped into interrogation mode.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell. I didn't want him getting discharged from the Marines because of me."

"Did that policy not get repealed recently?"

"It did." Tim confirmed. "Thus Dimitri's reason for confronting me. We talked about it and decided to give it a try again."

"Hmmm..." Ziva nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, I am glad for you. You deserve to be with someone. I have but one question."

"And that is?" A wary tone sneaked its way into Tim's voice. He had known telling Ziva was going to be easier than telling any of the others since she wouldn't judge, but now he was wondering what was putting the mischievous look on her face.

"Does Dimitri approve of spectators?"

"Ziva!" Tim gave his partner a scandalized look as she exploded with laughter, leaning forward on the steering wheel. "Oh, my god, I knew Abby would ask something like that, but  _you_?!"

"Come on, Tim." Ziva managed to get out in between laughs, using Tim's first name to show she was trying to be serious. "You cannot tell me you are not expecting to be asked that quite frequently. Despite how Tony jokes, you are one of the best looking men in the Yard. Made the Top Five the last time that topic made its way through the gossip vine."

"The term is 'grape vine'." Tim corrected on autopilot. "Wait, what? All you women seriously gossip about things like that?!"

"Yes." Ziva replied without regret. "Quite often."

"I can't even..." Tim shook his head, turning his attention out the front windshield. He had expected Ziva to ask multiple questions about his and Dimitri's relationship, not go straight to teasing him about it. He frowned slightly when something she said finally registered. "Wait...Top Five?"

Ziva burst into another round of laughter, her knuckles turning white from how hard she was gripping the steering wheel in her attempt to stay focused on driving.


	13. Unintended Exposure

"Holy shit! Petroviak lives  _here_?!" Tony looked up at the manor with a look of appreciation, shutting Tim's passenger door with a loud thunk.

"Dimitri's  _parents_  own the property, Tony, not him. He's just staying here temporarily." Tim corrected with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. Petroviak is moving in with you, isn't he?" Tony drawled out with a smirk. Tim ignored the jab, prodding Tony to get him moving towards the main entrance.

"Now, a few rules. Flirt with Veronica at your own risk. Flirt with Elizabeth at your own risk. Flirt with  _Anya_ at your own risk. Flirt with Nadia and don't expect your dignity to survive the encounter." Tim raddled off. "Kate might be here with the girls, I don't know as Dimitri wasn't quite clear on that, but flirt with her and expect to be toyed with. The girls are barely legal, so you better treat them the way you treat Sarah. Have I made myself clear?"

"Sheesh, McWorried, you sound like you're sending me into battle." Tony snarked as they arrived at the door.

"Dimitri's whole family can be just as gregarious as you, Tony. You're lucky Viktor and Irene went home the other day. Veronica and Irene are thick as thieves and would gang up on you the moment you left yourself open. Mind you, Veronica has a little bit of hero worship going on at the moment but it won't take her long to get over that." Tim rang the door bell, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. He barely survived coming to the manor when he visited by himself. He wasn't entirely sure he could protect both himself and Tony at the same time.

"Consider me thoroughly warned, then." Tony commented right before the door opened, revealing one of the many staffers.

"Mr. McGee! I take it this is your friend, Agent DiNozzo?" The blonde woman grinned at Tim, clearly having been told to expect him.

"How many times must I insist you call me Tim, Beth?" Tim returned the grin. Beth was the staffer to get if you needed help pranking someone in the manor, and Tim had gone to her quite a few times in the past.

"Alright,  _Tim_. Dimitri isn't back from his errands yet and I think he mentioned picking up 'his girls'. His words, not mine. As for everyone else, I think Veronica is close to pissing herself in excitement. The others are attempting to keep her calm back in the pool area. Nadia had the gardeners set up the outdoor lounge area." Beth snickered through her report, occasionally glancing at Tony with an amused expression. She obviously didn't understand the hype.

"Thanks! Umm...well, Tony and I will head straight back to put Veronica out of her misery. Sergei have any Guinness in the house?"

"Yep. I'll bring out a couple bottles for you two." Beth nodded in acknowledgment of the request, stepping aside to let Tim lead Tony through the manor to the enclosed yard. Grabbing Tony by the arm, Tim immediately headed to meet the others so Tony didn't have the chance to hit on Beth.

"Is everyone on the staff as hot as that?" Tony asked once they were out of earshot of the entrance hallway.

"I can think of a few of the handymen you wouldn't find attractive. They're a bit grandfatherly..." Tim shot back, causing Tony to shiver in horror. Insinuating that there were people on the staff that were old enough to be Tony's father was the perfect way to get Tony to change the topic, in Tim's opinion, and he wasn't afraid to use that tactic at the moment.

"You said that this Veronica is part of Baltimore Homicide?" Tim smirked at the redirect.

"Yes, she is, Tony. She was a street cop when you were still there, so she knows who you are. Your reputation does precede you in this situation." Tim turned to give Tony a significant look, since they arrived at the screen door that led out to the yard, and opened the door with a flick of his wrist before stepped through. "Oh, lovely people! We're here!"

"Tim!" Anya was the first one to react to their arrival, dashing from her seat in the lounge area to hug Tim. Tony rose his eyebrows in amusement when Tim twirled Anya around with a laugh, seeing similarities between that and how Tim interacted with Sarah. "So this is Agent Tommy?"

"Anya..." Tim growled as he held her out at arm's length, Anya smiling mischievously.

"What, Tim? Christine isn't here at the moment."

"Shut up." Tim hissed. He threw a look at Tony, warning him not to begin ranting about  _Deep Six_ , and spun Anya around to start marching her back to the lounge area. The others had remained seated and were waiting. Veronica wasn't exactly waiting calmly, but she still made the effort to remain in her seat. Tony followed slowly, adopting a bemused expression and wondered just what he had gotten himself in to.

"Timothy, darling, it's nice to see you were able to make it even though you caught a case." Nadia began as soon as they were within speaking distance. She stood up to give Tim a hug and pressed a kiss onto his cheek before turning to Tony. "You must be Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Tim hasn't said much about you, but Veronica has been telling us all many stories about your time with the Baltimore PD."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Petroviak. McSilent over here hasn't said much about you, either, but your son Dimitri was waxing lyrical about you and your other children the other day when he joined us for a team night." Tony gave Nadia a smile, the type he normally reserved for when he had to impress the person he was meeting.

"Lies!" The Petroviak children whispered to each other, just barely loud enough to be heard by Nadia, Tony, and Tim.

"He's not lying, guys. Dimitri was very talkative that night." Tim threw at them with a smirk.

"I'm sure." Nadia continued as if her children and Tim hadn't spoken. "Dimitri was a Momma's Boy growing up, and that certainly hasn't changed just because he's an adult. Being my first-born has giving him a bit of a complex, as well."

"You could say that again." Tim muttered, finally causing Nadia to react. Her eyes darted over to him and she rose her eyebrows in a half-attempt to hide her amusement, knowing that Tim was getting the brunt of that particular aspect of Dimitri.

"Same could be said about you, Tim. You are, after all, your parents' first-born." Nadia commented back.

"I don't have it as bad as Dimitri, though." Tim chuckled, deciding to leave Tony alone with Nadia and headed over to one of the empty chairs. Tony let out a mildly panicked expression, giving Nadia an awkward smile before following Tim. Nadia shook her head in amusement, knowing Tony was going to fit right in, and returned to her own seat.

"So..." Veronica cut in, staring at Tim intently so he would cut to the chase and begin the introductions. Tim briefing considered stalling to greet the other Petroviak children but he figured Veronica probably wouldn't react well to that.

"Tony, this is Veronica Petroviak. Dimitri's sister-in-law through his brother, Mischa. Veronica, this is my partner Tony DiNozzo. I have talked about you two briefly with each other." Tim motioned back and forth between the two of them, leaning back in his chair because he knew Tony was going to take over.

"Hello, Detective Petroviak. I hear you have my old desk back at the precinct." Tony grinned as he sat on the empty chair next to Veronica. Veronica vibrated slightly in excitement, but managed to keep herself calm enough to speak clearly.

"Yeah, I do. Everyone says I've got the DiNozzo Luck because I haven't had a single case go cold since I was moved there. Oh, my god, you have no idea how amazing it is to finally meet you, Agent DiNozzo. I was just a beat cop when you left to join NCIS, so I didn't have any chances to meet you back then, but  _everyone_ who worked back then who's still around still tells stories about you and your old partner, Danny Price." A grin grew on Veronica's face as she rattled on and moved to the edge of her seat. "No one has yet to beat your record for winning the most Pool Championships. And even Sapphire asks about you once in a while!"

"Oh, really? Well, tell Sapphire that I'm only a short drive away if she really wants to see me. I do accept visitors." Tim groaned as a salacious smile grew on Tony's face. He'd have to warn Ziva that Tony's ego would need to be taken down a few notches in the next few days. When Mischa threw a look his way, all Tim could do was shrug. He  _had_  warned Tony ahead of time that he flirted with the Petroviak women at his own risk. "McProbie over here really hasn't told me much about you, though. How'd you go from walking the beat to working homicide?"

"Raimey streamlined the process somewhat after you left." Veronica's enthusiasm was cut down dramatically when she was forced to bring up their former boss, a small frown growing on Tony's face as well. "When the opportunity arose for me to get off the beat, I took it. Better conditions all around, considering I had a toddler I had to worry about and a husband who was deployed."

"That's good. Not many women on the force were able to maintain families when I was there. They didn't want to take the risk." Tony looked suitably impressed, moving so he could lean back in his chair.

"If it's not too personal to ask... Why did you leave? It was clear to everyone that you loved working at the precinct." Veronica asked her own question. Tim scrunched his face up in a wince, getting curious looks from the others. He shook his head, though, leaving it to Tony to decide whether or not to share.

"Danny and I had a bit of a falling out, and Agent Gibbs gave me an offer I simply couldn't refuse." Tony replied in an even tone. "That's all. Nothing major."

"Oh." Veronica went silent, sensing there was more that Tony wasn't saying but wisely kept quiet.

"Tim, I have the Guinness you requested." Beth arrived holding two open bottles of the brew, providing a much needed distraction.

"Thank you!" Tim piped up with a smile, hoping to get rid of the tense feeling in the air. He took one of the bottles, motioning to Tony that he should take the other. "Just in time, too. I was about to get up and wander into the kitchen to get them myself."

"Cheeky." Beth replied with a deadpan face.

"You know you love me, Beth." Tim turned his smile into an innocent one, tilting his head as he gave Beth a 'How could you not love me?' expression. She rolled her eyes, turning to address Nadia.

"Cook says that he's nearly finished with the final menu for Sunday. He'll go out to get the shopping done after you approve it."

"Thank you, Beth. Please tell him I'll be in to see him sometime before dinner to see if he's done." Nadia replied. Beth nodded, sticking her tongue out at Tim before spinning on her heel and leaving.

"You certainly get along with the staff here. Or, at least, that particular member of it." Tony commented before taking a sip of his Guinness. Tim let out a laugh.

"I get along with everyone on the staff. They've all known me since my first year at MIT with Dimitri."

"Blondie there looks like she could have been attending classes with you, McBeaver." Tony pointed out. Tim rolled his eyes at the new McNickname, letting out a sigh before explaining.

"Some of the younger members of the staff are actually the children of some of the older members." Tim began, amongst the snickers and chuckles of the Petroviaks around them. "Not all of them are, mind you, but Beth is. She went to school for a degree in hospitality and was offered a job here after she graduated. Her father is one of the mechanics who makes sure there's nothing wrong with any of Senator Petroviak's personal vehicles."

"Sounds like an important job he does. Doesn't explain how you've known her that long." Tim shook his head at his partner's ignorance.

"All the Petroviak children regularly hung out with the children of the staffers, Tony. The staff is treated like family here."

"Oohhh..." Tony drew out, causing everyone else to laugh outright.

"Right." Tim said, putting his bottle of Guinness on a nearby table before standing up and turning to Mischa with a pseudo-dramatic look on his face. "I do apologize for my partner's behavior. I have yet to have him neutered."

"Apology accepted." Mischa replied in an equally dramatic tone.

"Hey!" Tony's protests barely managed to make their way through the second explosion of laughter. Tim quickly took a few steps away when Tony stood up despite the fact that they had the whole lounge area between them, mentally daring the Italian man to try something while giving him a mischievous look.

"I hear laughter! That can only mean one thing!" A new voice yelled over the noise, grabbing everyone's attention. Dimitri and a red-headed woman stood at the doors, both of them with bemused looks on their faces.

"Why do you always blame everything on me?" Tim shot back as the laughter died down and the new arrivals approached.

"Because it's Dimitri, Tim. You should know better by now." The red-head spoke before Dimitri could, giving him a smile.

" _You_  should know better than that, Kate. None of us will ever understand Dimitri completely." Tim could see a confused expression appear on Tony's face in the corner of his eye as he smiled back at Kate, making him realize that Tony's view of the patio door was blocked by the rather large sauna next to the pool. You'd have to be  _inside_  the recessed lounge area to see that end of it.

"Either way, I brought Kate because I told her you had a big surprise for her." Dimitri grinned, speeding up slightly so he would reach the lounge area before Kate. Tim grew slightly confused as to what Dimitri was talking about, glancing at Kate's 'I am not sure I believe him' smile for a moment before he remembered what he and Dimitri had spoken about the other day.

"Now, Dimitri..." Tim began in a slight panic. Tony was  _blocked_  from view, along with Veronica and Mischa. They didn't know Tony was there.  _Dimitri_  didn't know that  _Tony_  was there already to meet Veronica.

"What?" Dimitri asked in an innocent tone as he approached Tim, clearly not having noticed the other end of the lounge area yet.

"Dimitri, I..." Tim began again, trying to say that he had brought Tony with him, but Dimitri pulled him in for a kiss before he could get it all out. Part of Tim froze in horror as Kate let out an excited squeal, obviously understanding the 'surprise' Dimitri had been talking about.

"Oh, my god, you two got back together!" Kate let out. Tim's frozen state didn't go unnoticed by Dimitri, though, and he pulled away slightly to give Tim a confused look.

"Tim?" Dimitri asked in a quite tone, not understanding Tim's horrified expression. Tim's eyes immediately darted over to where Tony was standing in utter shock, the shatter of Tony's dropped Guinness bottle finally grabbing Dimitri and Kate's attention. It didn't take Dimitri long to realize what he just inadvertently did. He barely managed to whisper, "Oh, my god, Tim. I'm so sorry."

"Tony." Tim moved away from Dimitri, hoping to explain everything as quickly as possible. Everyone's previous joy from Tim and Mischa's antics was quickly squashed as they watched Tim approach his partner. "I...I...I can explain."

"Explain?  _Explain_?" Tony hissed, taking a step back. Tim stopped in his approach, desperately trying to force down the tears that were beginning to form in his eyes. This was  _not_  how he wanted Tony to find out and now it looked like it was going to do a lot more damage than good. "What is there to explain, Tim? You've been keeping secrets!"

"I know I have." Tim winced at Tony's use of his first name. "But I..."

"What ever happened to  _trusting_  each other?" Tony continued on, causing another wince.

"I know." Tim dared to take another couple steps towards Tony. He could sense that Dimitri really wanted to insert himself into the situation but wouldn't because that would make things even worse.

"Ever since  _Somalia_  we agreed that we wouldn't keep things from each other. We wouldn't keep  _major_ things from each other. I think this qualifies as major!"

"Tony, I know!"

"Why would you keep something like this a secret, Tim? Are you distancing yourself from the team or something?" Disbelief mixed in with the expression of anger on Tony's face, making him somewhat horrified over his own suggestion.

"God, no! I'm not doing anything like that, Tony! Gibbs and Ziva know!"

"Gibbs and Ziva know already?! You told  _Gibbs_  and  _Ziva_  first?! I can't believe you!" Tony's arms flung around a bit as he swung at the air in a physical release of his anger. Everyone's heads went back and forth, many of them becoming uncomfortable with the direction the argument was taking.

"I told Ziva  _yesterday_  and Gibbs the night before! It's not like they've known for long!" Tim defended himself. "I planned on telling you today!"

"Ok, great. So I've been utterly  _pissed_  at your precious Gunny for the past few days and only now am I finding out that it was basically all for nothing!"

"I...what?" Confusion slipped onto Tim's face. Tony's comment made absolutely no sense to him. "What?"

"In case it missed your observation, McGee," Tony began with a tone of heavy sarcasm. "I am rather protective of Ziva and Abby. Especially when it comes to newcomers. It is one thing to have some guy talking them up thinking he deserves their attention, but it is something else entirely when the guy in question is already in a relationship and means nothing by it!"

Tim's jaw dropped open in utter disbelief of what Tony just shrieked at him. There were quite a few reasons for Tony's anger weaved into everything he said over the last several moments, making Tim unsure of where to start.

"I...I...Tony, if you were disturbed by the amount of flirting Dimitri did with the girls then why didn't you say anything?" That seemed like the safest option to Tim. He  _had_  known just how protective Tony could get over everyone on the team, including Gibbs, but he hadn't thought it had gotten that bad with Dimitri.

"You said nothing! You didn't even bat an eyelash! I was putting my trust in you to say something if he crossed a line since  _you_ are the one who knows him!" Tony panted as he took a moment to catch his breath. "You know how I get with you all. I had absolutely no reason to think you had no idea what was going through my head."

"Tony, I'm sorry, I was more focused on making sure Dimitri didn't say anything damning than reining in his flirting.  _All_ of you were essentially on a fact-finding mission and I wasn't about to let the four of you gang up on me all at once." Tim shook slightly from the adrenaline coursing through him, feeling a bit dazed by how quickly the 'discussion' heated up and burned out. "I...you're not disgusted by the fact that I'm in a relationship with a man?"

"Why the  _hell_  would I be? Tim, I tongued a male-to-female transsexual. You where  _there_. I may have been absolutely horrified by the fact that I made out with the person who killed Pacci, but not  _once_  did I ever express that I was disgusted by the fact that Amanda Reed used to be Hamilton Voss."

"True..." Tim trailed off. Kate Todd might have enjoyed poking fun at Tony for it, but Tony never retaliated. "You're right and wrong, by the way. Dimitri flirts with  _everyone_ , which is why I didn't react to him flirting with Abby and Ziva, but we didn't actually get back together until the next morning. He...he showed up at my apartment later that night with some cheesy movie quote that I didn't even understand with the intention of confronting about why I broke it off in the first place."

"I'm...not even going to go on about how you didn't understand a movie reference after all the years we've worked together." Tony began with a small scoff of minor disappointment at the most trivial part of Tim's statement. "You breaking it off means you two were together once before. Why'd you break it off?"

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Tony. Dimitri's a Marine, remember?" Tim walked back over to the table to collect his bottle of Guinness, taking a long swig of it. Everyone's uneasiness slowly seeped away into awkwardness, no one really knowing how to inject themselves in after Tim and Tony's argument. "And I mean it. I  _did_  intend to tell you today about how I swing both ways, that Dimitri and I used to be in a relationship, and that he and I decided to get back together. I only told Gibbs and Ziva first because Sarah suggested it."

"Does Abby know?" Was Tony's only response to that. Tim let out a dry laugh.

"No. And, to tell you the truth, I am absolutely dreading the time when I do tell her. At this rate, Jimmy will know before she does."

"I highly suggest you  _don't_  tell the Autopsy Gremlin before Abby if you intend to live long enough to retire." Tony warned him. "Just a suggestion, though."

"I know..." Tim let out a heavy sigh, finally looking back at Dimitri once more since his arrival before turning his full attention to Kate. "Kate, this is my partner, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. I know I've mentioned him to you a few times. Tony, this is Kate Brenton. Dimitri's ex-wife and an old friend of mine from my college years. She's a lawyer."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Brenton. I feel obligated to point out that our team has rules about interacting with lawyers, but I have a feeling McShaky told you about them already." Tony nodded towards Kate since they were too far apart to shake hands.

"Rule 13: Never, ever involve a lawyer. I always thought it was a bullshit rule and encourage Tim to break it." Kate smirked slightly. Tim took another sip of his Guinness, wondering how he managed to go through so much of the bottle so quickly. He took another sip when Tony's attention moved from Kate to Dimitri.

"You hurt him, I kill you. This is your only warning." Tony smiled pleasantly, as if he was commenting about the weather.

"If that's your big brother speech, DiNozzo, I can tell you right now that you are seriously lacking." Dimitri insisted.

"Ha." Tim let out a single laugh before draining the rest of his beer and heading towards the patio doors. "I need another drink."


	14. Apologies and Plans

Tim was barely through the patio doors when Tony appeared next to him.

"Tim, I'm sorry." Was the first thing out of Tony's mouth.

"Don't apologize. It's a..."

"Sign of weakness." Tony finished for him. "I honestly don't care. I should  _not_  have blown up like that when you were trying to explain."

"Tony, it's ok." Tim insisted, putting a bit more focus on getting to the kitchen and getting another bottle of Guinness than talking with Tony. He had absolutely no intentions of going home sober tonight, Gibbs' irritation at his hangover the next day be damned. He'd either pay for a cab for Tony or one of the drivers on staff could give Tony a ride home.

"No. It's not. I made it seem like I was absolutely disgusted and didn't approve when that's not it at all. In fact, now that I know I'm surprised I didn't see the sexual tension between the two of you before."

"Stop right there." Tim stopped walking, finally turning to Tony as he held up a hand to get the other man to both stop walking and stop talking. "I tried  _really hard_  to keep the sexual tension out the picture, despite Dimitri's tendency to flirt with everything that has forty six chromosomes."

"You know, that includes several species of rodent." Tony pointed out.

"You know what I mean!" Tim hissed out, his lips twitching from laughter that was begging to be let out at Tony's little factoid. "Don't read too much into my past interactions with Dimitri that I had in front of you guys. In case you forgot, Ziva and Abby are still insisting that you and he could be related."

"I know. I just..." Tony wiggled his fingers at Tim rapidly. "It's extremely difficult not to see stuff in hindsight."

"Work harder at it, then." Tim shot back before returning to his mission of getting more alcohol. Tony continued to follow him deeper into the manor, looking around at the various things on the walls in amazement.

"Out of curiosity, because you know I would want to know, what movie quote did Dimitri use on you?" Tony asked as they neared the kitchen.

"Technically speaking, all Dimitri did was toss the DVD at me with the hope that I'd get the reference." Tim stalled. He had wanted his next bottle of beer in his hand before Tony went into interrogation mode.

"Well, then what was the movie?" Tony prodded further. This had to be good if Tim was stalling. And it definitely was, considering the blush growing on Tim's face.

"...Brokeback Mountain." Tim answered in a meek tone before shoving the kitchen door open and making a beeline for the walk-in cooler. The various members of the kitchen staff looked at the two arrivals only briefly before going back to their duties.

"What?!" Tony laughed out, rushing to keep up with Tim. "Oh, my god, really? Please tell me you asked him what line he was thinking of when he arrived at your apartment. I have an idea, but I just have to know if it's true."

"Of course I asked! I've never seen that movie, so I didn't get the reference." Tim shoved a new bottle of Guinness towards Tony, since his previous bottle currently lay shattered out in the lounge area, before grabbing another bottle for himself. "It was rather corny, to be honest. Dimitri had to be desperate because he doesn't do corny."

"Tim..." Tony drew out, blocking the door so Tim was stuck in the cooler. "The line?"

"I wish I knew how to quit you." Tim snapped with a glare, feeling intense heat grow throughout his face and neck.

"Oh, that's..." Tony began, the grin on his face widening by the second. "That's rich. That has got to be the best use of that line I have ever heard of."

"Fuck off." Tim pushed Tony aside when the man began laughing, heading back towards the door.

"Someone's panties are in a twist!" Tony barked out between laughs. He hurried to keep up with Tim's long strides, not wanted to get too far behind. "Now, tell me. Who's who?"

"What?" Tim snapped in irritation over his shoulder.

"One of you has the other wrapped around your little finger when it comes to getting to know each other in the biblical sense. Which of you is it? I honestly can't tell."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Tony. I'm not telling you about my sex life." Tim growled out, angry at the heat in his face that refused to go away. They were going to walk out into the pool area and the others were going to know right away the kinds of things Tony was asking about.

"Oh, come on! I tell you!" Tony protested, chuckles still sprinkled throughout his words.

"Yeah, you tell me. You tell me even after I say I don't want to hear about it." Tim retorted back, speeding up just slightly when the patio door was in sight so he could get back to the relative safety of the group. At least the girls would be sympathetic. The guys, especially Dimitri, maybe not so much. Dimitri would probably even answer all of Tony's questions with a grin on his face. Letting out a quiet groan, Tim flung to door open and stepped through.

"It's called bonding, Tim!" Tony explained in a loud voice as he followed out, grabbing everyone's attention as they approached the lounge area.

"I said no, Tony. Now sit down, finish your beer, and let Veronica interrogate you. It's why you're here." Tim ordered, turning around and pointing at the chair Tony had previously sat on while giving his partner a stubborn look that said he'd make Tony sit down if Tony didn't do it, himself.

"Alright,  _fine_." Tony let out petulantly, accepting the fact that he wasn't going to win this round. Sticking his tongue out at Tim, earning an eye roll, Tony returned to his previous seat and gave Veronica a grin. "Now, Mrs. Petroviak, where were we?"

"Don't." Tim said to Dimitri as he tuned out Tony and Veronica's discussion, turning back to Dimitri and Kate with a worn out expression. "Just...don't. I can see the questions forming in your head."

"Come on, Tim." Dimitri said in an equally quiet tone. "I haven't seen you get in such a heated argument with someone in literally years. Then, not even a few minutes later, he's laughing while you wear a look of barely amused irritation? Talk about emotional whiplash."

"Dimitri, it's  _Tony_." Tim insisted, as if that explained everything. And, to Tim, it did. He'd been working with Tony for years. The two of them had formed a close friendship over all those years.

"Don't 'It's  _Tony_ ' me, Tim. What the hell?" Dimitri hissed. Kate nodded in agreement, stepping closer to keep the conversation between the three of them. The rest of the family would just have to remain slightly confused and talk amongst themselves.

"I'm with Dimitri on this, Tim. What's going on?" Kate questioned in a more understanding tone, seeing that Tim had already forgiven Tony.

"Tony is my closest friend. My  _closest_. You don't exactly risk your life day-in and day-out with someone without forming some kind of bond with them. We've been through a lot together over the years." Tim threw a significant look at Dimitri since the other man should know exactly what he meant. "Tony was  _genuinely_  hurt that I told Gibbs and Ziva before him, guys. Remember how he mentioned Somalia? That was a terrible time at work for us and we leaned on each other to make our way through it. Because of all the bullshit that  _caused_  us to make that trip to Somalia, we promised each other we wouldn't keep major secrets from each other. Doing so causes problems. I told Gibbs and Ziva right away because of the risk of shit going on at work, but that doesn't change the fact that Tony was hurt that I didn't tell him first."

"And that excuses him?" Dimitri asked incredulously.

"Yes, it does." Tim returned firmly. "Dimitri, how would  _you_  feel if, say, I found out I had cancer and I kept you in the dark? Told Kate and Mischa before you?"

"I'd be pissed, but that's different." Dimitri began before being cut off.

"No, it's not. I know you hate being compared to Tony, Dimitri, I really do, but it's the only way for me to get you to understand. My relationship with Tony is a platonic version of our own. It's familial. The last handful of years, Tony has always been the first person I told if anything big happened in my life. How would you expect him to react to finding out that I'm in a relationship the way he did?" Tim gave Dimitri his own incredulous look once he finished.

"When you put it that way, yeah. I can see why you'd forgive him so quickly..." Kate said, biting her lip as she trailed off.

"You really are too forgiving, Timmy." Dimitri muttered as he let out a sigh, shaking his head in bemusement. "Guess I'm lucky that's to my advantage, ain't I?"

"Yeah. You can be such an ass, yourself, sometimes." Tim reminded Dimitri with a small smirk. He let out a heavy breath before turning his attention to Kate, deciding to change the subject. "Why aren't the girls here?"

"Ian's brother, Peter, got his acceptance letter to Harvard so Tabitha decided to go join the celebrations. Deidre and Keith are packing up his apartment and putting all his things in storage since he'll be staying with his parents these last couple weeks before he heads off to Parris Island." Tim let out a sympathetic hiss, scrunching his face upon hearing where Deidre was.

"It's definitely going to be a difficult few months for Didi. At least Ian is a relatively short drive away for Bithy."

"I know. Deidre's already had a couple sobbing marathons at home. Separating from Keith for so long is going to be hell for her." Kate frowned slightly. "But it's just a small taste of what she's going to get when he's deployed. At least we all already know how to set up a great support system for her. And for Tabitha, as well, once Ian graduates from Annapolis."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to have more time with Deidre than I'll know what to do with in a couple weeks?" Dimitri commented wryly.

"If your daughter ends up being with us more than at her own home, Dimitri, you're helping me move into a bigger apartment." Tim said quickly. It was bad enough that Sarah made his apartment look like a tornado made its way through whenever she came over. Dimitri and Deidre combined would turn it into a pig sty, given how small the place was.

"You should do that anyway, Tim. The sheer amount of stuff you have has got to be making your current apartment crowded." Kate suggested, smirking slightly when Tim rolled his eyes.

"My apartment is fine for one person."

"And you're about to have two there. Upwards to five, depending on how often the girls want to visit and if they do so at the same time as Sarah."

"Kate's got a point." Dimitri admitted. "Your apartment is just big enough for when your whirlwind of a little sister visits, but if I'm gonna live with you there's going to be a lot more visitors to account for. Not to mention I have some of my own things I wanna take out of storage."

"Fine." Tim let out in a sigh, giving Dimitri a look. "You can apartment hunt while I'm at work. It's the least you can do since I'm saving your rear from your parents' event schedule."

"Funny." Dimitri shot back in a deadpan tone as Kate erupted in a fit of giggles.

"Come on, you two. Play nice. Now, Tim, what was this I heard about you possibly visiting Christine's English class?" Kate changed the subject with a grin. Dimitri made one last face at Tim before turning to go speak with his mother, leaving Tim to explain everything that happened during the impromptu pool party a few days previous.


	15. Explanations

"Apartment options in the DC area are absolutely horrendous," Dimitri muttered over his cup of coffee. Tim snorted from his place at his computer, making a point not to say anything. When Tim told Dimitri two days previous that he was in charge of finding a new place to live, Tim meant it. Dimitri wasn't going to get any help on the matter. "I should buy a house."

"Now wait just one minute," Tim ordered as he spun his chair around.

"It's a viable option!" Dimitri reasoned.

"Purchasing a house is a big decision, Dimi. We shouldn't be rushing into it."

"Don't you mean  _I_  shouldn't be rushing into it? We both know I have enough money to buy a house without your approval."

"Not if you intend for me to be living with you, you don't," Tim said. He stood up and crossed the room to join Dimitri at his counter. "There are plenty of apartment options in the DC area. Stop being so picky."

"We're going to be  _living_  here, Tim. This will be our  _home_. I know you're happy with this dinky three room apartment, which includes the bathroom, but simplicity isn't going to cut it for the both of us," Dimitri insisted. "There's the girls, there's Sarah, there's Kate, our parents, our combined computer equipment, our combined hobbies, our secondary jobs... With everything we're combining, you can't honestly think an apartment is going to be enough space. The amount of space required for our computer equipment, alone, is the size of this entire apartment."

"You...may have a point," Tim admitted. He frowned as he thought over all the things he had amassed since he moved into his apartment. It probably wasn't a good time to reveal to Dimitri that he had a storage unit for excess things he couldn't fit in the apartment, and Tim was adamant about pushing that piece of information off as long as possible.

"Look at it this way, Tim. We'll be making an investment instead of paying off someone else's mortgage." Tim turned to give Dimitri a suspicious look. Dimitri's argument was logical and well organized. This was not something Dimitri did in two days. As intelligent as he was – Dimitri  _did_  attend MIT, despite jokes amongst their friends to the contrary – Dimitri always needed time to form his arguments on important issues.

"When, exactly, did you start considering the idea of us living together?"

"Two days ago," Dimitri replied. Tim gave Dimitri the McEyebrow, leading to an expanded answer. "I've been thinking about buying a house once I returned home for the past year."

"That explains a lot," Tim said.

"I've technically been 'living at home' ever since I enlisted, Tim. With me moving from assignment to assignment and re-enlisting every time my contract was due to expire, I haven't had any reason to settle down outside the manor. But my current contract will be expiring soon, and I do not plan to re-enlist. I need to leave the nest and find a place to call  _home_ ," Dimitri explained.

Tim lifted his hand to start rubbing Dimitri's shoulder. That wasn't something Tim had considered. He had been living on his own since he started attending John Hopkins, so he had taken it for granted. It was a sharp reminder of just how much things had changed over the years.

"If you pick one with a pool, then you'll be the one maintaining it." Tim pressed a kiss to Dimitri's forehead before heading back to his computer.

* * *

"You really trust Dimitri to choose an apartment for the two of you?" Tony asked the moment Tim stepped out of the elevator. Tim rolled his eyes, deciding to make Tony wait for an answer until after Tim had set his things down at his desk.

"Not really, but Dimitri has stopped looking for an apartment and has moved on to houses."

"Houses?" Ziva spoke up. "When did things change from you two sharing an apartment to you two buying a house?"

"Things changed to  _Dimitri_  buying a house when he reminded me that he hasn't had an actual home outside his parents' manor since we graduated from MIT. He may want my name on the deed, right next to his, but do not doubt that every penny of this purchase will be coming from  _Dimitri's_  savings. In case you both forgot, the colloquial term for Dimitri's tax bracket is 'loaded,'" Tim stressed.

"Sounds like you have reservations McNervous," Tony said.

"I'm not being hesitant. I'm just...off kilter. I've considered myself several years away from purchasing a house. The last thing I expected was for Dimitri to insist that we move into a house and that he use his untouched savings to buy the thing outright," Tim said. He sat at his desk, leaning forward on his elbows and rubbing his face. "This is not the normal way people purchase houses."

"Not really, but you two don't seem to have a normal relationship," Tony cracked, sharing a look with Ziva. The two of them had shared 'Tim came out to me' stories over the last couple days, and now Tim had to deal with another form of teasing in between appearances from coworkers not yet in-the-know. There was an upside, however; They let their own sexual frustrations with each other leak into the teasing, and Tim was keeping track of every time that happened. Prime blackmail, that was.

"Bite me," Tim muttered. Ziva opened her mouth to have her turn, but the rear elevator dinged and the Bull Pen fell silent. As expected, Abby revealed herself a few moments later.

"Yay, you're here!" Abby shrieked as she gave Tim a hug. "I finished the coding update on my computers, and now I need my favorite geek to check it for me."

"I need the morning to finish filling out my paperwork for the prosecutor. She wants redundancies on everything because of the case being handed over to the FBI. During lunch sound okay? " Tim asked.

"Sure! Not a problem. With that out of the way, where's the Bossman? I need to wheedle a promise out of him."

"Like that'll be difficult..." Tony snorted.

"Gibbs wandered in the direction of the coffee machine a few minutes ago, Abby," Ziva supplied.

"Right-o. Thanks. See you at lunch, McGee!" Abby gave Tim another hug before taking off in the direction of the nearest coffee machine.

"When are you going to tell Abby?" Ziva asked as soon as the Goth was out of earshot.

"No idea..." Tim muttered.

"You tell her before Ducky or Palmer, Tim," Tony said. "She will go apeshit if she finds out she was told after them."

"And she'll go apeshit when she discovers that I've been lying to her about this the entire time we've known each other. It doesn't matter when I tell her, Tony. I'm still going to be dealing with a hysterical Abby that's going to be saying something out-of-line," Tim pointed out.

"What do you mean 'out-of-line'?" Ziva asked. "When is Abby every out-of-line with you?"

"More often than you two realize," Tim admitted. When his partners gave him dual looks, he sighed and continued. "When Jethro attacked me, she treated the dog better than me. When we went down to Mexico, she blatantly disregarded my orders to remain in safety. When she had that stalker, she ignored my orders to keep my door shut. Abby acts without thinking more often than not. It's not exactly the most balanced friendship."

"I see what you mean..." Tony trailed off.

"Don't get me wrong, guys. I love her as much as you two do. I'm just in a unique position of getting to see multiple sides of her because of our short tryst. I am  _happy_  we did not stay together."

"You go in the order you feel is best," Ziva insisted. "If you have reason to delay telling Abby, then you have reason to delay telling Abby."

"Yeah. What she said," Tony said, retracting what he said earlier with a frown.

"You meant well by the suggestion," Tim told Tony after noticing the frown. "That counts. You just didn't know the whole situation."

"How much else are we missing when it comes to you two?" Tony asked, turning his chair to face Tim head-on. Tim gave him a confused expression, but Ziva nodded the moment she realized what Tony was asking. "If those are the major things that Abby has done, what else are we missing? She may be Gibbs' favorite, but that doesn't mean she's automatically everyone's favorite. What  _else_  are we missing, Tim?"

"That is a discussion for later. I'm not having it here at the Yard," Tim replied, turning his focus to his computer. The day had started out weirdly, and now things were getting tense. He knew he'd have to tell Tony and Ziva everything after work. They'd follow him home to make sure he did. Until then, Tim would just have to ignore the looks they'd be giving him any time Abby was brought up.


	16. Lunch

Tim leaned against the wall outside Abby's lab, listening to her rant to Bert as she did her various tests for the investigation teams in the Navy Yard. She was expecting him soon, and Tim was unsure if he should bite the bullet now or wait until after work. He needed to tell her about Dimitri sooner rather than later, but he also didn't want to interrupt her ability to do her job for the day. Nor did he want to deal with Tony and Ziva hounding him for a more thorough explanation for what he said earlier about Abby  _while_ he was trying to speak with Abby _._  It was a fine example of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"And where on Earth is McGee, Bert?" Abby asked the stuffed hippo.

Letting out a sigh, Tim pushed himself off the wall and walked into the lab.

"I'm right here, actually," Tim said, forcing a smile on his face.

"Impeccable timing!" Abby laughed as she spun around to face Tim. "You taking lessons from the bossman?"

"No, but the talent must be wearing off on me. Now, what was it you needed me to look at?"

Abby pointed towards her computers with great flourish.

"My babies have had their routine coding update. I need a second opinion to make sure it was done correctly and possible updates weren't missed."

"Alrighty, then," Tim said. He approached Abby's computers and sat in front of one to prepare his check.

"Did you get all your paperwork done?" Abby asked as she went back to checking her machines for possible test results.

"Yeah. It's all submitted. I have washed my hands of that responsibility now. If the prosecutor wants more, then she can make the FBI do the work," Tim replied without looking away from the computer screen.

"Excellent. Hey, I heard you and your friend are going to be roomies soon," Abby said. She came up next to Tim to give him an excited look. "Did I hear correctly?"

"Umm... yeah, kinda," Tim answered, glancing back and forth between Abby and her computer.

"Kinda? Come on, McGee. Spill." Abby gave Tim her trademark pouty look.

"Dimitri won't be re-enlisting and plans on using his untouched savings to buy a house," Tim answered.

"That's it?" Abby asked when Tim didn't say anything more. "He's buying a house. How do you factor in?"

"Dimitri wants me to make the investment with him. The last time his housing wasn't government regulated was when he and I were roommates at MIT. He's kinda new to the idea of living on your own. He doesn't want to do it by himself," Tim continued. He technically wasn't lying, but he knew he was skirting around the full answer.

"That's so sweet of you to do this with him, McGee! A bit unorthodox to be buying a house with a friend, but unorthodox is my thing. It's still sweet," Abby gushed.

"About that..." Tim said before he could stop himself. Well, it looked like he was telling Abby now instead of later. No way was she going to let him drop the subject.

"Yes?" Abby's excited expression turned into a curious one.

Tim turned on his stool to look Abby in the eye. He owed her that. As much as his fight or flight instinct was telling him to run right now, Abby deserved to be told to her face and not in some passive, cowardly manner.

"There's something about Dimitri that I haven't told you yet, Abby, and I really hope you don't get too upset with me over it," Tim started.

"What's wrong, Tim? Why would I get upset?" Abby asked, instantly concerned.

"Nothing's wrong. I just... I haven't been as open with you as I'm sure you and everyone else believes, and it's a bit unnerving to finally be telling you now after speaking with Gibbs, Ziva, and Tony about it."

"Tim..." Abby said. Her tone, completely void of her usual exuberance, told Tim to stop rambling and get to the point.

"Dimitri isn't my  _friend_ , per se," Tim said.

"He's not your friend? How you two have been interacting says a bit differently, McGee."

"Well, yeah. He's my friend. We've known each other for years. But he's not my  _friend_ ," Tim stressed. He wanted Abby to make the connection. He really did, but the look in her eyes told him she wasn't seeing the difference. Tim was going to have to jump straight to the deep end. "Abby, Dimitri was my ex."

"He  _was_  your ex?" Abby asked slowly, focusing on the past tense of Tim's statement as she digested what he said.

"Yes. Was."

Abby stared at Tim for a long moment, making Tim wonder if he was going to have to break the silence. It was becoming uneasy.

"I know you've been with women, Tim. I was one of them," Abby said.

"Now is when I remind you that bisexuality is a thing," Tim responded, adopting a wary look.

Another pregnant pause grew between them as Abby opened and closed her mouth repeatedly without saying anything. Tim's gut grew tense the longer Abby remained silent. He wondered if he should have stopped himself and made her wait until after work.

"Tim, why would I get upset?" Abby finally let out.

"I didn't mean to... What?" Tim began to rattle off an excuse as to why he didn't tell her sooner, but his brain registered what Abby said and slammed on the breaks.

"Why would I get upset? You're bisexual. And? You don't owe anyone that knowledge if you're not comfortable telling them. If you're being safe, then it's no one's business," Abby said.

"Because I never told  _you_ ," Tim replied.

"Tim..." Abby stopped mid sentence with a contemplating look on her face, as if she wasn't sure of what to say next. "Tim, you don't owe me anything. You  _don't_  owe me anything. We are not together anymore. Your sex life is no longer any of my business, despite how often we Gibblets joke around with each other about our sexual histories. You don't owe me. You don't owe Ziva. You don't owe Tony. Do not feel obligated to tell us anything if you aren't comfortable in doing so."

"I... I just..." Tim tapered off, not knowing how to continue. This was not the scenario he expected. Tim had been bracing himself for Abby to be mad and hurt that he didn't trust her before given how close they were. With a sigh, he turned back to Abby's computer.

"How did you and Dimitri get together the first time, anyway?" Abby asked. Tim gave her a look for the obvious redirect, but she continued to give him an expecting look. "You mentioned before that he had been married once."

"Kate recognized how much Dimitri and I flirted after their divorce. Once I turned 18, she shifted her matchmaking skills into overdrive and found excuse after excuse for Dimitri and I to be alone together in a not-so-platonic environment. After the twins, Kate considers my and Dimitri's relationship her crowning achievement," Tim explained with a few chuckles. He remembered some of Kate's more ridiculous excuses to get him alone with Dimitri. Why Kate thought her intentions wouldn't be obvious after she asked Tim and Dimitri, of all people, to replace a light fixture in her bedroom was beyond Tim.

"Sounds like a smart woman, even if she is a lawyer," Abby said.

"Dimitri seems to think so," Tim cracked.

"How long did it last?" Abby asked. She pulled her other computer chair closer so Tim didn't have to stop working on her computer just to reply.

"Three years."

"Three  _years_?" Abby sputtered.

Tim paused in his typing to give Abby another look, this time in amusement.

"If you're going to keep on reacting like that, Abby, then this is going to be a long conversation."

Abby motioned to all of her machines currently running tests.

"I've got the time. Do you?"

Tim let out a sharp laugh, turning back to his task. It was going to be interesting seeing Abby's excuse to Gibbs for why she kept him past the end of his lunch break.


	17. Phone Calls

Tim slowly twirled his pen in between his fingers as he stared at his cell phone sitting on his computer desk. He'd only been home a couple hours, so he knew his parents hadn't gone to bed yet, but Tim was still unsure if he really should tell his parents about Dimitri over the phone. They deserved to be told face-to-face, like everyone else, but Tim wasn't sure he'd be able to make the trip to Norfolk any time soon.

"If you dig your eyes in a little deeper, I'm sure it'll spontaneously combust," Dimitri said from his spot in the kitchen.

"How should I tell my parents?" Tim asked, ignoring Dimitri's comment.

"Step One: You pick up the phone. Step Two: You  _dial_  your parents' number on the phone. Step Three," Dimitri began, trailing off when Tim glared at him. "Why are you asking me this, Tim? They're your parents. You should know how to tell them. You and I being together is not a new concept for them."

"It's been years, Dimitri. I'm sure they've never even considered the idea that you and I would get back together," Tim said before going back to staring as his phone.

Dimitri sighed and didn't say anything as he continued chopping up the vegetables that were going into their late dinner. Parents were parents. There really wasn't much else Dimitri could say to make Tim make a decision one way or the other.

"You could always cheat and ask Sarah to tell them 'on accident' for you," Dimitri said when Tim continued to remain silent.

"Dimitri," Tim scolded. Dimitri grinned with success, however, when he noticed Tim's lip twitch as the man tried to keep a smile in.

"Tell me the idea doesn't sound appealing. I dare you," Dimitri replied.

"I'm a better son than you, apparently," Tim shot back.

"I have long since accepted this."

Tim laughed. He understood why Dimitri was cracking comments. It was unrealistic to think his parents would have any other reaction than the same one they had when Tim first told them he was dating Dimitri way back in his MIT days. It was just unnerving because it was his parents. Telling them he was in a relationship with somebody was always difficult.

Letting out a sigh, Tim swiped his cell phone up off his desk and hit the speed dial for his parents' landline. He could hear Dimitri snickering in the kitchen but paid the man no mind. Tim would deal with Dimitri being a brat later.

"Tim! Darling!" Tim's mother answered the phone. Tim chuckled at her lack of a general greeting.

"Hi, Mom," Tim said.

"Hi! Sweetheart, we weren't expecting a call from you for a few more days. You usually call on the weekends. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's okay, Mom. Nothing bad has happened. I've just had a lot going on lately and I wanted to call you two tonight."

"Sean! It's Tim! Pick up the other handset!" Tim's mother yelled for her husband. "Tim, you know you can call us any time. You said you've had a lot going on?"

"Tim, my boy!" Sean suddenly appeared on the line. "I'm just in the next room, Kimberly. No need to yell next time."

"Hi, Dad," Tim said. "And yeah, Mom. I've had a lot going on lately. Our current case at work has had a lot of ups and downs lately. It's irritating suddenly having loads more hoops to jump through just to do our usual tasks."

"I'm sure it'll be all the more satisfying once you and your team catch the bad guy," Sean insisted.

"Usually is," Tim admitted.

"Have you spoken with your sister lately? If you have, scold her for us. It's been a while since we've heard from her," Kimberly said.

"Will do, Mom," Tim laughed. He normally didn't actually bother to yell at Sarah when their parents asked him to, and he doubted he'd do anything this time. Sarah was probably going to call them, herself, in the next day or two. Their mom's definition of 'a while' was significantly different from everyone else's.

"Anything in particular prompt the early call, Tim? It's the middle of the week. Even for tough cases, you usually wait until the weekend," Sean asked, unwittingly paraphrasing his wife's earlier question.

"Yeah. Just..." Tim trailed off, feeling the hairs on his neck stick up. He spun his computer chair around to glare at Dimitri for staring. Dimitri gave Tim a sheepish smile and returned to making dinner.

"Yes, darling?" Kimberly prompted.

"Dimitri's back from his latest deployment. He's already made the decision not to re-enlist once his contract is up," Tim said, not really knowing where he was planning on taking this conversation. Guess he was going with the 'go with the flow' option of telling his parents.

"That's great! Have you had the chance to catch up with him yet? He's one of the few friends you still have from your college days, right?" Sean asked.

"We have," Tim answered. He glanced at Dimitri once last time before spinning his chair back around for a false sense of privacy. Not that Tim really needed it, but it helped his nerves. "I was at the manor with him and his family just the other day."

"That's good, sweetie. As much as you adore your coworkers, you do need more than just them in your social life," Kimberly said. She let out a giggle before continuing. "Can't exactly give us grandchildren when you're surrounded by people you're not allowed to date."

"Hardy har har, Mom," Tim said as both his parents laughed.

"Oh, you know it'll be a cold day in hell before Sarah gives us any," Kimberly insisted. "We just need to find you the perfect girlfriend."

"Or boyfriend," Sean reminded her. "You know, Tim, an older couple bought the house across the street. Lovely people. Their son swings by all the time to help with yard work and the like. I think he's single."

"Oh, my god, Dad. You are  _not_  trying to set me up with your neighbor's son," Tim groaned loudly. A loud clang echoed behind Tim as Dimitri dropped the knife he was holding before bursting into laughter.

"You can't blame us for trying," Sean muttered.

"Well, stop trying. It's not needed," Tim shot back.

"What do you mean it's not needed? Darling, are you dating someone you haven't told us about?" Kimberly asked.

Tim groaned again when he registered what he did. He opened that door. Now he had to deal with what walked in.

"Uh, yeah. I'm seeing someone," Tim said with a touch of hesitation.

"Who is it? Do we know them? How long have the two of you been together? Why haven't we heard about this before now?" Kimberly said her questions in rapid-fire, hardly giving her husband the chance to ask his own questions nor Tim the chance to answer them.

"Kim, honey, relax! Let our boy speak," Sean inserted when Kimberly paused for breath.

"Sorry," she whispered before going quiet, pulling chuckles out of Sean and Tim.

"It was a very recent development. And yes, you two already know him," Tim replied.

"Agent DiNozzo is still a coworker, isn't he?" Sean asked.

"What?!" Tim shouted in shock, causing Dimitri to appear at his side in a few seconds. Dimitri gave Tim a worried look, but Tim batted at him to go away like he was an annoying fly. "Dad, I'm not dating Tony!"

Dimitri gave Tim a deadpan expression before walking away and into the bedroom. Tim looked after Dimitri with worry, however the sound of muffled laughter eased it; Dimitri had gone into the bedroom to hide his hysterics in a pillow. Tim was mildly impressed that Dimitri held it in long enough to make it to the pillow.

"It seemed like an obvious option! You talk about him enough!" Sean defended himself. Tim rubbed at his face with his empty hand. Sometimes he wondered how he was blood-related to his parents. He really did.

"Oooo, wait," Kimberly said. She paused a few seconds before continuing. "It's Dimitri, isn't it? You two got back together!"

"Yes, Mom. Dimitri and I have had a long discussion on the matter, and we've decided to try the relationship business again," Tim replied.

Both of Tim's parents started talking at once, so Tim had some trouble figuring out who was saying what. He decided to wait them out until they stopped talking before saying anything.

"I didn't understand a single thing either of you said," Tim said when the line finally went quiet.

"Tim, this is fantastic news!" Sean exclaimed. "You need to bring Dimitri back home for a weekend soon. It's only fair since his parents got to see you already."

"I'm sure Dimitri would love that. I'll talk to him about it the next chance I get. I'll have to double check the team's rotation schedule, though, to make sure we have an off-weekend coming up," Tim said.

"Whenever is best, sweetheart. No rush. We understand your work schedule, and it's not like we'll be meeting Dimitri for the first time. If we have to wait a couple weeks before we can see you two in person, then so be it," Kimberly said.

"Thanks, Mom. I'll do my best with scheduling," Tim promised.

"Listen, you caught us right before we were going to head out to a movie, so your mom and I need to go. We'll definitely continue this discussion this weekend. No excuses," Sean said.

"Of course, Dad," Tim laughed. "I'll call again this weekend. You two go enjoy your movie."

"Have a wonderful night, sweetheart. We're so happy for you!" Kimberly said.

"Good night, Mom. Night, Dad," Tim said.

"G'night, Tim," Sean replied.

Tim set his phone aside as his parents both hung up.

"You can stop laughing!" Tim yelled at Dimitri, who was still in the bedroom. Tim got up so he could go speak with Dimitri at a reasonable volume. "Last time I checked, it was still your night to make dinner."

"I'm sorry," Dimitri gasped for breath as he pulled his face out of the pillow. "I just... That's just fucking hilarious. Your dad seriously thought you were dating Tony?"

"Apparently I 'talk about him enough' for my father to immediately think about him," Tim said in a mocking tone. As embarrassing as it probably was going to be, Tim knew he'd have to tell the others about this. If he didn't, then Dimitri would, and Tim wanted the laughter to be occurring on his own terms.

"That's perfect," Dimitri breathed. He wiped the tears off his face as he attempted to even out his breathing. "I'll... I'll get back to dinner. Just give me a moment."

"Take your time," Tim said, barely keeping a look of amusement off his own face.

Tim briefly considered taking over dinner from Dimitri. Without a doubt, Dimitri was going to be laughing all night.


	18. Weekend Plans

"Come on. You know it's only a matter of time until you give in!" Tony goaded Tim.

"No, it's not," Tim said.

Tim was beginning to regret letting Dimitri and the others intermingle as much as he has the last few weeks. He couldn't make any weekend plans with anyone without everyone else interrogating him about it. It got worse after he finally came out to Ducky and Palmer because then they all started to openly scheme with each other on how to best annoy Tim. Tim wasn't concerned about the 'openly' part so much as he was about the 'to best annoy' part. The rest of the Yard could get personalized cards informing them about his relationship with Dimitri, for all Tim cared, but it became a pain-in-the-ass when Tony or Abby recruited someone from another department to help them interrogate Tim. Tim was even keeping a tally. He was sure that, eventually, they will have asked the entire damn Yard for help.

"It's not often you go away for a weekend and tell us that your phone will be off the entire time, Tim. What are you doing this time?" Tony continued.

"Tony, Dimitri and I are spending the weekend with his daughters. That's  _all_  I'm telling you," Tim insisted.

"Surely, for your safety, we need to know where you're going in case anything happens," Tony tried arguing. Tim gave Tony a bitch face for the attempt.

"Tony, Dimitri has barely been home long enough to want to do anything 'dangerous' with the girls. He wants to  _relax_  this weekend. We'll save the crazy vacation activities for next year," Tim said. Tony opened his mouth to argue some more, but Tim glared him back into silence.

"Who is taking care of Jethro while you and Dimitri are gone?" Ziva asked, pulling Tim's attention away from Tony.

"Gibbs volunteered his back yard. Something tells me he's taking advantage of the chance to get my dog to answer to a different name," Tim replied. "Not that I blame him, but if he goes through with it then I hope he picks a halfway decent name as a replacement."

"You trust Gibbs' pet naming abilities?" Tony asked, finally distracted from his previous line of questioning.

"More than Abby's," Tim muttered. He turned back to his computer so he could finish his paperwork and finally be done with work for the weekend. Lord only knew what kind of trouble Dimitri and the girls were getting themselves into while waiting for Tim to get home.

"Speaking of yards, has Dimitri considered that when looking for houses?" Ziva continued. "I'm sure Jethro would appreciate having a large yard, like Gibbs has."

"A large yard is basically a must. Dimitri has a  _lot_  of siblings," Tim chuckled.

"You have absolutely no hope in keeping Dimitri from holding regular house parties, do you?" Tony commented.

"Nope," Tim said. He hit 'save' on his current document and forwarded it on to Gibbs, quickly shutting down his computer afterward so he couldn't be pulled into anything else. "Now, I am out of here. I don't care about any reports you two are currently working on. I am  _off_  from work until Tuesday, when we're back on duty."

"Enjoy your weekend, McGee. Do come back in one piece so I am not left alone with this imbecile," Ziva joked, motioning towards Tony.

"Yeah. I want a witness when she finally kills me!" Tony spoke up, giving Ziva a look.

"I'm sure Gibbs will have Abby hide the evidence before I even get back. Have a great weekend!"

Tim waved goodbye to Tony and Ziva and bolted for the elevator. There was no need to linger any longer than necessary.

* * *

"Dad, where's my copy of  _Flowers for Algernon_?!" Tim heard as he approached his apartment door. Perfect. They're already arguing over who's items were where.

"Exactly where you left it, Tabitha," Dimitri answered, his voice muffled from being deeper in the apartment.

"I left it here on the desk this morning, right next to the typewriter. It's not there anymore!" Tabitha said.

Tim let out a heavy sigh as he paused before putting his key into the deadbolt. This was probably his last moment alone until they returned home. Why did he let Dimitri talk him into this, again?

"Hey, Dad!" Deidre greeted Tim from the kitchen as soon as he stepped through the doorway. He gave her a look as he set his work things on their designated hooks. She returned the look with one of her own and motioned towards the bedroom, where Dimitri probably was. "What? He's Daddy. You're Dad. There's a  _distinction_."

"Sure," Tim said, not being able to prevent the amused smirk from appearing on his face.

"You're home!" Tabitha shrieked, interrupting Deidre's chance for a comeback. Tabitha darted across the small living room to throw herself at Tim, who barely caught her before they both fell back into the door.

"Hello to you, too, Bithy," Tim laughed.

"Good! He can help me with this stupid kit he insists on bringing," Dimitri called out from the bedroom. Tim rolled his eyes before stepping around Tabitha to go see what Dimitri was complaining about. He didn't know why he was surprised to see medical supplies spread out over the bed.

"Dimitri, it's a basic first aid kit. We need one to keep in your SUV. It's no different than the one I keep in the trunk of the Porsche," Tim said.

"You're assuming he knows what a basic first aid kit is," one of the girls commented, pulling a snort out of Tim.

"I heard that," Dimitri said, not looking away from all the supplies on the bed. "Tim, basic to you and basic to me are two completely different things. I'm perfectly fine keeping band-aids and antibiotic ointment in the glove compartment."

"Then don't view it as a first aid kit. View it as an emergency kit. A flashlight, flares, at least two ponchos, etc. If we get stuck on an abandoned road somewhere between here and New York, what would you want with us? Tim asked.

"A cellphone with service," Dimitri muttered.

"Girls, we're all going to die," Tim said with a deadpan tone, turning away from the bedroom.

"Can I call dibs on your computer if you die before I do?" Deidre called out from the kitchen, punctuating her question with a solid thump on the cooler she just finished filling.

"Only one of them. I get the other," Tabitha spoke up.

"I love you all, too!" Dimitri said.

Tim let out a laugh and joined Tabitha over by his writing desk to help look for her book. He remembered seeing it that morning as he got ready for work. There was only so much space in his writing area where the book could have been moved to.

"Bithy, did you check the entire desk, including the drawers?" Tim asked.

"Yes. It's not here. Is Jethro the type of dog to chew on books?" A horrified look grew on Tabitha's face at the thought of her book being shredded by doggie teeth.

"No, he's not. He knows to only chew on the things I give him," Tim assured her. He patted Tabitha on the shoulder and looked around, thinking it could have fallen off the desk and got kicked aside on accident. "If worse comes to worse, Bithy, we'll just swing by a bookstore before we leave the city."

"Fine," Tabitha sighed.

"Dad, where's the manual can opener?" Deidre interrupted.

"And why do we need a can opener? We're not going camping," Tim said. He gave Tabitha a sympathetic look, understanding her pain at losing a favored book, before heading back to the kitchen to address Deidre's own need for assistance.

"Because knowing Daddy, part way there he's going to want some kind of junk food that comes in a can and we'll need a can opener to open it so he can stuff his face and leave us with blissful silence," Deidre replied. Tim choked on the breath he was taking at the unexpected crack at Dimitri, coughing to clear his throat when he accidentally inhaled saliva. It was very much clear which daughter took after Dimitri.

"Most things come with a pop-top now," Tim managed to say after a few moments of coughing. "Just...forget about the can opener."

"Okay, fine," Deidre replied.

Tim walked away before she could say anything else, opting to return to the bedroom to attempt packing his own bag for the weekend. He knew Dimitri wouldn't have thought to at least start it for him. That, and Tim needed to make sure the first aid kit for the car was properly stocked.

"Just leave it. I'll take care of it after I'm done packing," Tim said to Dimitri.

"If I don't pack this, you'll be bitching at me later for having to do it yourself. Now, is a little bit of everything fine? Is that good enough for you?"

Tim rolled his eyes at Dimitri's complaining and focused on packing his own bag. This was going to be a  _long_  weekend and probably not the least bit relaxing, given how feisty Dimitri and Deidre already were. It'll be a miracle if Tim and Tabitha survived with their sanity intact.


	19. Love and Marriage

"You don't understand the amount of  _need_  I have to go take photos in Central Park," Tabitha explained to Dimitri as they walked down the busy sidewalk. Tim and Deidre trailed behind them silently, sharing amused looks as they sipped on their coffees.

"It's grass. It's trees. It's water. You have the exact same things in DC," Dimitri argued.

"Central Park is not in DC!" Tabitha argued back.

"I know! We have Rock Creek, which is just as beautiful," Dimitri said.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going to go take photos at Rock Creek Park. Maybe I'll go help Daddy the next time he and his team have to go investigate a dead body!" Tabitha shot back.

Tim barely stopped himself from spitting out his mouthful of coffee. Deidre exploded into laughter next to him, having to stop and touch a hand to the building next to her to keep her balance.

"Whatever floats your boat, sweetheart," Dimitri replied.

"What floats her boat is stuck at Annapolis right now," Deidre muttered under her breath. Tim threw her a chastising look that barely concealed his amusement. Luckily, Dimitri hadn't heard Deidre's comment.

"Daddy, explain it to him!" Tabitha turned to look at Tim as she pulled him into the argument.

"I do not know what you want me to say to him, Bithy," Tim said. "He's as stubborn as you are."

"Oi, I am standing right here," Dimitri said.

"We  _need_  to go to Central Park. It'd be a crime to visit New York City and not visit Central Park!" Tabitha exclaimed.

"Bithy, why don't you and I go while your father and Deidre are at Yankee Stadium for the game? That way they're occupied and won't get pouty while we're walking around the park," Tim suggested.

"You want to purposely miss the game?" Deidre asked, insulted by the idea. The look on Dimitri's face said the same.

"Ooo, you think we'll have time for the American Museum of Natural History?!" Tabitha said, ignoring her sister. "And Hayden Planetarium?!"

"Are you sure you're my daughter?" Dimitri cracked. "You're sounding like Tim there."

"Well, of course," Tim answered Tabitha, throwing a look at Dimitri telling him to shut up.

Splitting up to do different activities was probably the best way to keep everyone happy, as far as Tim was concerned. As long as the girls each stayed with either Tim or Dimitri so they wouldn't get grabbed by a stranger. Tim was highly aware of how much the four of them looked like tourists.

Tabitha let out a shriek of excitement and threw herself at Tim.

"Okay, fine. Both of you begone," Dimitri gave in. "Now Deidre and I don't have to deal with you two huffing in boredom the entire game."

"We'll meet back up for dinner," Tim promised with a laugh as he tried to get Tabitha's hair out of his face. It wasn't until he sputtered that Tabitha realized what was going on and pulled away, giving Tim a sheepish smile.

"I'll hold you to it," Dimitri said with a smirk. He ushered Deidre closer so they could continue down the street, leaving Tim and Tabitha to change directions and head towards Central Park.

* * *

"My god, I cannot believe how beautiful the blooms are," Tabitha gasped as she brought her camera in close to a bed of flowers.

"You've gotta give kudos to the New York Parks & Rec Department," Tim commented from the nearby bench he sat on.

"I've yet to see a bloom this big back in a DC park," Tabitha said. She zoomed in on a single flower so it took up her camera's entire field of view before snapping the picture. "At least, I've yet to see one this size at this time of the year."

Tim breathed in deeply and looked around the section of the park they were in. One didn't always associate fresh air and wide, open spaces with New York City. It was amazing they were able to maintain the park so well.

"How has your photography been going, anyway?" Tim asked, reverting his attention back to Tabitha.

"Decent enough," Tabitha replied. She stood up straight and sighed heavily as she pondered over something.

"What is it?" Tim prodded.

"It's been a complete pain in the ass to get architecture shots the last few weeks," Tabitha said, feeling comfortable enough to use an expletive to express her frustration now that the two of them weren't around Dimitri.

"It's hard to point a camera at a building and take a picture?" Tim chuckled. He understood that the situation was much more in depth than that, but it wasn't like Tabitha was giving him details.

"No. It's just..." Tabitha hesitated. "Ever since Dad came home and told us that he'd be  _staying_  home, Ethan's been more strict with how often Dee and I can use the cars to get around. We're basically down to the bare minimum required for school and work. Also, one of us will say we're leaving to hang out with someone, and suddenly Ethan will have a chore for us to do before we're allowed to go out even though the task is completely redundant. I've had to put our coffee pot through a cleaning cycle  _seven times_  since Dad got home.  _Seven_. It takes forever to cycle enough water through the pot to get rid of the vinegar taste. Mom and Ethan don't even use the damn thing that often, either."

"Have you told your Mom or Dad anything about this?" Tim ask, his expression growing hard. He knew Ethan was going to be trouble, but Tim never thought it would be in this way.

"Like Hell I'm telling Dad about this right now. He'd rage off to confront Ethan without thinking!" Tabitha exclaimed, giving Tim an incredulous look.

"And your mother?" Tim continued.

"No, I haven't told Mom. Dee hasn't, either. We were kinda hoping something work-related shoved the stick up Ethan's ass, that it was just coincidence he started doing this when Dad came home, and that Ethan would tone down once he was finished dealing with whatever it was," Tabitha said.

"Regardless of the reasoning, Bithy, he shouldn't be taking it out on you two," Tim insisted. Tim rubbed his face in frustration as he thought over what to say next. Tabitha wasn't wrong in her guess on how Dimitri would react. Dimitri would go ballistic. But something needed to be done  _now_  about Ethan. Tim wasn't about to let the girls go home to Kate and Ethan after the weekend without acting on this. "Tabitha, do you know if your Mom is working a case this weekend?"

"She's not," Tabitha replied. She adopted an awkward posture, not knowing if she should go back to taking pictures.

"Stay nearby, where I can see you," Tim said as he pulled out his cell phone.

"You're calling Mom  _now_?" Tabitha asked.

"Are you suggesting I wait until we're back with your Dad and Deidre?" Tim shot back. The horrified look on Tabitha's face made it clear that she didn't want this phone call happening around Dimitri. "Tabitha, go back to taking your pictures. Just stay where I can see you. Once I'm done talking with your Mom, we can head off to the museum."

Tabitha didn't respond. She rarely heard that tone from Tim, and it was usually used when he was speaking with Dimitri. Tabitha paused a moment before doing as she was told.

Tim hit the speed dial he had set up for Kate's cell phone. He didn't set up their landline on speed dial because Tim didn't really want to speak with Ethan without a specific reason, and now Tim was happy about that. Avoiding interaction with Ethan right now was best.

"Hey, Tim! Enjoying New York?" Kate greeted once she answered her phone.

"Yeah, we all are. There's too many things to do. We ended up splitting up. Dimitri and Deidre are at the ball game right now. I'm with Tabitha in Central Park," Tim said.

"That's fantastic. I know she was going crazy over the idea of all the photography opportunities while she was packing," Kate said. "What's up, though? Everything alright? This is supposed to be your vacation time."

"Kate, are you near Ethan?" Tim asked. There was a silence on the other line that went on long enough that Tim briefly considered that they were disconnected.

"Ethan's off at work. He got called in," Kate finally replied, her voice even.

"Okay, good," Tim said. He watched Tabitha focusing on her photography. She moved over to a different bed of flowers, this one yellow instead of red like the previous one.

"Tim, what is it? Why are you asking about Ethan?" Kate asked. Her voice continued to lack inflection, and Tim knew she knew he wasn't calling with anything good.

"Have you noticed anything odd with how Ethan's been treating the girls since Dimitri got home?" Tim continued.

"I can't say that I have. But then again, we're all on busy schedules. The girls are basically grown. They don't need me to hound their every footstep anymore, so I've been allowing myself to take on a heavier work load that keeps me away from home for longer," Kate said.

"Kate, Ethan's been restricting their movements. They're rarely allowed to use your cars anymore. When they want to leave for anything social, he finds excuses to keep them home longer," Tim said, getting it all out at once. Not the nicest band-aid to be ripping off.

"And how do you know this?" Kate replied. It was obvious how Tim knew this, but Kate wanted to hear him say it.

"Tabitha told me once we separated from Dimitri," Tim said.

Kate let out a string of swear words under her breath.

"Tim, did Deidre say anything to you, as well?" Kate said.

"No. She hasn't had the chance," Tim replied. He considered his words carefully before continuing. "Kate, does Ethan know about me and Dimitri yet?"

"I haven't told him. And I told the girls not to say nothing," Kate said. She let out a groan as she mulled over the sharp turn the conversation took since she answered. "Tim, Ethan doesn't know. I'm sure of it."

"Then do you have any idea why Ethan's treating the girls this way? I don't think it's a coincidence that this started after Dimitri got back state-side," Tim said.

"It's probably Ethan's jealousy and paranoia," Kate commented.

"Pardon?" Tim asked, catching a weird tone in Kate's voice. She took a moment to take a breath before continuing.

"Tim, I know you know about how Ethan and I haven't exactly had the most stable of relationships in recent years. With Dimitri back in the picture on a permanent basis, I wouldn't be surprised if Ethan was paranoid that I was planning on leaving him to return to Dimitri. Ethan has never liked that I've maintained such a friendly relationship with Dimitri, regardless of the fact that Dimitri is the father of my children," Kate explained.

"Kate. To be blunt, why the hell are you still with the son-of-a-bitch?" Tim asked. He remembered the conversations he had with Kate the previous year when she and Ethan had a huge argument, leading to Ethan staying at a motel for a week. Tim was surprised when the man was finally let back in the house instead of being served divorce papers. Of course, Kate never did get around to telling Tim why there was a falling out in the first place.

"It's beginning to feel like habit," Kate admitted. "But if he's fucking around with the girls, then I'm done procrastinating. What time are you all returning home on Monday?"

"We were planning on being back some time around dinner. Why?" Tim asked.

"That'll give me time to 'conveniently' notice that the cars aren't going through as much gas as usual and 'ask' Ethan about it. I've always told the girls to use one of my own credit cards to fill up the tanks, despite Ethan's insistence that they use their own money from work to replace the gas they use, so I've got that. I just gotta print out a copy of my purchase history from the website."

"Kate," Tim started. This was veering dangerously close to 'about to ruin Kate's marriage' territory. He just wanted the girls to be left alone. He didn't want to send Kate into divorce court before she knew she was damn well ready to deal with the proceedings.

"Tim, I'll handle Ethan in my own way. You keep this quiet and do  _not_  mention anything to Dimitri until you get home. You hear me?" Kate ordered. "The last thing we need is for Dimitri to come running back to DC to confront Ethan and for Ethan to find out about you two sooner than necessary."

"Okay, fine," Tim relented. "What do you want me to say to Tabitha and Deidre, in the mean time? Tabitha knows I'm on the phone with you right now."

"Tell them whatever you want as long as you don't tell Dimitri. I'll send you a text once I've finally found the opportunity to speak with Ethan," Kate said.

"Okay," Tim repeated.

"Have fun the rest of your vacation. See you when you get home."

"See you later, Kate," Tim said.

Tim hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket before sighing heavily. This was going to be interesting. Keeping secrets from Dimitri for any amount of time wasn't exactly Tim's strong suit.


	20. Future Plans

"You think we can convince Daddy to take a more scenic route home? We kinda took the direct way here," Deidre asked Tim.

"If I offer to drive back home, he won't have a say in the matter," Tim joked. He ran his fingers over the back of the book spines in front of him as he meandered down the aisle, looking for a specific title. Deidre trailed behind him, a book already in hand.

"That's a surefire way to annoy him," Deidre laughed.

"It's good to return the favor once in a while," Tim said.

"I'll remember that the next time one of you two annoy  _me_ ," Deidre commented.

Tim threw her an amused look over his shoulder and turned back to looking for the novel he wanted. Honestly, he was surprised Deidre didn't go with Dimitri and Tabitha to the pizza place down the street to get a genuine New York slice. Tim expected to grab the book he had been meaning to buy all by himself. But he wasn't going to argue if the girls decided to take turns doing things one-on-one with Dimitri during their short vacation here in New York.

"How's the next novel coming, by the way? Christine won't stop blowing up my phone to get information about it from you," Deidre asked.

"It's going," Tim replied with a chuckle. "You can tell her that she's just going to have to wait, like everyone else."

"I already have. It didn't work."

"Then tell her you laugh in her general direction, because I have nothing else to tell you. My publisher would be irate if I revealed details to anyone," Tim said.

"Noted," Deidre snickered.

Tim paused to consider what he essentially just gave Deidre permission to do, but he decided that was Future Tim's problem. Cousins needed to be cousins, anyway. It wasn't like Christine wasn't just as bad as everyone else in the family.

"How have you been lately? I know it's been a while since I've been able to spend any dedicated time with you girls," Tim asked. "Every single time I'd run into you two or your mother, I'd be waist deep in a case."

"Same as usual. I know Mom told you about Keith heading off to Parris Island," Deidre replied. "It'll be nice once graduation is done and over with. Tabitha and I have agreed that we're going to do a break year before enrolling in college next Fall."

"You're taking a break year? I admit, I'm envious. My scholarship to MIT was dependent on me heading straight into college the Fall after my own high school graduation," Tim said.

"It won't entirely be a vacation for us. Tabitha's going to be throwing herself into her photography. She wants to get the ball rolling on becoming a freelancer so she can use that as a source of income while we're in college. Me, I don't know yet. I guess I'll be using the time to figure out  _what_  I want to do with myself," Deidre said.

"Like father, like daughter," Tim commented. He stopped perusing the shelves and turned to look at Deidre straight on. "You know, it's  _fine_  to not know what you want to do yet, right?"

"I know. But everyone in the family seemed to know where they were headed once they graduated high school. Mom did. Daddy did. All of our aunts and uncles did. You did..." Deidre trailed off. She let out a sigh and shrugged, her face scrunched up in a frown.

"Deidre, I didn't go to college with a specific career path in mind. If you had told 16-year-old me that I'd be working at NCIS right now, I probably would have bust a gut from laughing so hard. I entirely expected to settle for a job in the private sector because that is where my talents at the time were most wanted," Tim said. "It wasn't until your father was telling me about his plans to enlist did I even consider joining FLETC. And even then, I didn't settle on NCIS until I was done at Johns Hopkins. Dee, sweetie, you've got  _time_  to decide on what you want to do. Go to college for what you're interested in and you'll figure everything else out later. Don't feel obligated to have a 'plan' at this very moment."

"I'm interested in sports, but playing in the professional circuit only to retire because of an injury ain't exactly my idea of a good time, if you catch my drift," Deidre said.

Tim gave Deidre an indulgent smile. So many guidance counselors champion sport scholarships to students interested in sports that other options never make it into students' ears.

"When we get home, remind me to arrange for you to tag along one day while I'm at work," Tim said.

"And what does NCIS have to do with sports?" Deidre gave Tim a wary look.

"It'll give you a chance to thoroughly interrogate my friend, Tony, on his college program requirements when he was earning his BA in Physical Education. The degree is for more than just grade school gym teachers," Tim said, reaching out to boop Deidre on the nose. "Tony originally wanted to become a physical therapist."

"You're saying I should consider something related to support staff?" Deidre asked.

"I'm  _saying_  learn about all possible sports-focused degrees and not just the ones connected to a scholarship," Tim said.

Deidre nodded in acknowledgment.

"Trust me on this, Dee. Learning exactly what your options are will make things easier down the road because you'll be narrowing things down to a specific list," Tim said.

"Okay. I absolutely hate research, but okay," Deidre said.

"Now come on," Tim patted her on the arm and headed for the end of the aisle. "They don't have what I'm looking for here, so let's check out and head back to your father and sister."

"Oh, goodie. Time to listen to the pizza connoisseurs either rant or rave over what they just ate," Deidre cracked, following after Tim.

"That's okay. They get to deal with us once we've stopped at a deli to grab a pastrami sandwich," Tim said over his shoulder.

It didn't take long for either of them to get through the line at check out once Tim was able to usher Deidre up there, with multiple attempts on her part to grab at other books that caught her eye. Tim had said one book for each of them and he intended to follow that rule, despite Deidre's complaining.

"Please tell me we're going to Katz' Delicatessen," Deidre said the moment they stepped out of the book store.

"Of course we're going there. We may be tourists, but we're not stupid," Tim replied.

"Good. I mentioned the place to Daddy yesterday, and he gave me this blank look. I don't think the name registered to him. I swear, sometimes I think he doesn't look things up on purpose just to screw around with us," Deidre continued.

Tim nudged Deidre towards the inside of the sidewalk so he was walking closer to the street curb. He slowly registered what Deidre said as she complained about Dimitri, and Tim wondered if he should go with the obvious segue. He still hadn't received a text from Kate.

"Speaking of screwing around," Tim started. Deidre gave him a horrified look, pulling a snort out of Tim when he realized what she thought he was talking about. "No, I'm not talking to you about Keith. That's a discussion for another time."

"God, Dad, don't give a girl a heart attack like that!" Deidre exclaimed. Tim laughed. Whenever that discussion  _did_  occur, he hoped to be far away because there was no way that Kate or Dimitri would be able to stop themselves from doing something that'd make Tim feel embarrassed for the girls.

"Lecturing you on sex is not my job. Relax. Anyway, when you and your father were at the game yesterday, Tabitha and I had our own discussion in Central Park," Tim said. Deidre's shocked expression was immediately replaced with one of irritation.

"I know. She told me about it in our hotel room last night. I don't know how much she told you, but I do  _not_  have many nice things to say about Ethan," Deidre said, hissing her stepfather's name as if it left a disgusting taste in her mouth.

"Well, Tabitha told me enough. Your mother is handling it at the moment. I'm waiting for her to text me back when she finally gets around to speaking with Ethan. Why didn't you two say anything about this before?" Tim asked.

"Tabitha kept on insisting that it was probably something work related and he'd eventually stop. And I know not to mention anything like this to Daddy without saying anything to Mom first, so I had planned on finding a good time to tell Mom if Ethan didn't lay off by the end of next week. No way in hell was I going to deal with Ethan's bullshit once our classmates' graduation parties started," Deidre ranted.

"Your father's going to have to be told eventually. I haven't said anything yet because your mom asked me not to, but if I don't get a response from her by the time we leave tomorrow then the entire ride home is going to be quite tense. I can't keep this from him for that long," Tim said.

"Mom seriously asked  _you_  to keep a secret from Daddy?" Deidre gave Tim an incredulous look.

"I am not that bad!" Tim argued.

"Name one time you kept a secret from him!" Deidre argued back.

"That's beside the point!" Tim said, refusing to let himself get pulled into a tangent. Members of the Petroviak family had a knack of doing that with him. "Your father is going to go ape shit, and it's going to take both me and your mother to keep him from going after Ethan. Do us a favor and  _don't_  try to help."

"Don't worry. Was not planning on it. I saw that runaway truck long before the warning horn. You might want to tell that to Tabitha, though. I know to keep hands off because my temper is just like Daddy's. Tabs, on the other hand, ain't. She  _likes_  to help," Deidre said.

Tim let out an exasperated sigh and remained silent. Honestly, he didn't fault the girls for taking as long as they did to say something about Ethan. Family drama was always a pain in the ass. With how full their schedules were with their graduation coming up, they had more than enough to worry about before triggering an argument among their parents. It just would make things so much easier if the girls  _didn't_  act like Dimitri so much.


	21. Home

Tim kept his eyes on the road in front of him as Dimitri and the girls argued over which restaurant was the best one they had gone to. Every single one of them tried to pull Tim into it, but he rebuffed them by pointing out that technically they never went to a restaurant that  _he_ wanted to go to and therefore he was biased in his judgment.

"We'll go wherever you want to go the next time we visit New York. Without the girls," Dimitri promised with a grin before turning back to his argument about pizza with Deidre.

Tim rolled his eyes, barely able to keep a smirk off his face. He was just happy he survived the weekend with his sanity. Missing out on a restaurant wasn't that important to throw a fuss about. Especially when Tim could just bribe Tony if he wanted to have authentic Italian food.

Tim's phone started ringing right as the girls were trying to get Tim to side with them again. He knew he really shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving, but it gave him excuse to get away from the argument. He took one glance at the screen to see who it was before answering.

"Hey, Kate," Tim greeted loudly so the others would get the hint to stay quiet enough for him.

"Tim, when you get to the house you're not dropping the girls off. You're picking up bags for them," Kate said instead of returning Tim's greeting. Muffled sounds came through, as well, telling Tim that Kate was moving around while on the phone with him.

"Wait, what? Why? Kate, what's wrong?" Tim questioned. The change in his tone made Dimitri and the girls go silent. Dimitri started motioning to Tim to give him the phone, but Tim threw him a glare telling Dimitri to back off for now. "Kate?"

"I..." Kate sighed heavily. A zipping sound could be heard through the phone. "I just finished speaking with Ethan, but it's hardly the end of our 'discussion' about the girls. We're only done talking right now because he stormed out of the house. I'm packing more clothes for Tabitha and Deidre right now. Please tell me you've got trunk space for more suitcases."

"Technically I don't at the moment, but Dimitri and I can drop the girls off at my apartment before swinging by your house. Do you know where Ethan went?" Tim asked.

"Nope! He tore out of the drive way in his car and floored it down the street. I wouldn't be surprised if I get a cop knocking on my door soon because a neighbor called in a domestic disturbance," Kate laughed, her voice cracking from stress.

"Tim, what the hell is going on with Kate right now?" Dimitri said evenly. Tim glanced back at Tabitha and Deidre through the rear-view mirror, seeing twin looks of concern, before looking back to Dimitri's stern face. Tim shook his head to tell Dimitri that he couldn't say anything at the moment and turned his eyes back to the road.

"Kate, what did you say that had Ethan storming out?" Tim asked.

"Under no uncertain terms am I going to tolerate him fucking around with my children and I wasn't going to be responsible for my actions if he did anything to them again. You know Ethan. Always the traditional son-of-a-bitch. He didn't like the idea that I'd ever put anyone before him, even my own daughters. He blew up on me about how dare I not stand by my husband's actions and left," Kate said.

"Is that all that happened, Kate?" Tim pushed. Lord have mercy on Ethan if their argument got physical.

"Yes. It was only us screaming at each other. Trust me, Tim, I would have already shot him with the gun I keep in my desk if he started hitting me," Kate insisted.

"Look, we just passed Philly. We'll be back home in a couple hours. Then you're going to explain to me, in detail, exactly what the hell is going on. Got me?" Tim asked.

"Yes, I got you. Just remember to drop the girls off first," Kate said.

"Of course," Tim agreed. He set his phone back down when he heard Kate hang up, letting out a heavy sigh as he felt the others' stares on him. "Girls, you're being dropped off back at the apartment before your father and I go swing by your mother's house."

"What the hell happened with Kate, Tim?" Dimitri repeated.

"Kate confronted Ethan about Tabitha and Deidre, and their argument didn't end well. Kate said to keep the girls with us for now," Tim replied.

"And  _why_  is Kate having to confront Ethan about Tabitha and Deidre?" Dimitri continued, his tone turning dark. He glanced at the girls in the back seat and saw their purposeful avoidance of making eye contact with him. "What are you three not telling me?"

"Dimitri, I'm telling you  _now_ ," Tim pointed out to derail Dimitri off that line of discussion. "To put it succinctly, Ethan's been a total ass to the girls lately, restricting their movements and not allowing them to be teenagers. It's being handled."

"How long have you fucking known about this, Tim?!" Dimitri exclaimed. He pivoted in his seat so he was facing forward again, letting out an angry noise. "I'm going to wring that little bastard's neck."

"That's precisely why you're the last to hear about this, Dimitri! You let your anger get the best of you!" Tim argued.

"How long have you known?!" Dimitri snapped.

"I learned about it in the last 72 hours! Kate told me to wait to tell you when I first called her about it!" Tim yelled back. "Dimitri, let Kate and I deal with this until you cool off!"

"You seriously expect me to do  _nothing_  right now?" Dimitri asked, giving Tim an incredulous look.

"Yes. I do. I expect you to keep hands off until you can approach this with a level head because  _Kate_  doesn't need you making things any more difficult for her to deal with. This is her husband we're talking about, Dimitri. She gets first swing at him," Tim hissed.

"To be fair, if Mom snaps then she'll shoot him, not hit him," Deidre spoke up in the back seat.

"I'm surprised she hasn't already," Dimitri commented. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, settling deeper into his seat as he forced his anger to abate. "Unless that's why we're heading over to her house after dropping the girls off at your apartment. Because she needs help with the body."

"You wish," Tim muttered.

"Let a man dream, Tim," Dimitri said. "Well, girls, it looks like you've got the remaining couple hours we're stuck in the car to tell me everything that Ethan's been doing. I want to hear all the details before I see your mother."

Deidre and Tabitha groaned in the back seat. So much for a happy ending to their vacation.

* * *

"Looks like Ethan's still not back from storming off," Tim commented as he parked the car in front of Kate and Ethan's house, noticing that Kate's car was the only one on the drive way.

"How fortunate for him," Dimitri drawled with heavy sarcasm.

"Kate's on edge already, Dimi. Don't make things worse," Tim reminded Dimitri.

"Relax. I won't," Dimitri insisted.

Tim rolled his eyes. Dimitri was looking for an opportunity to blow up. He knew Dimitri well enough to know that. Juggling an angry Dimitri and a stressed Kate just wasn't a good situation to be in, from Tim's point of view. He'd rather drink Gibbs' coffee in front of the man.

Kate had the door open before Tim or Dimitri even reached the porch.

"Please tell me you took pity and brought alcohol," Kate said.

"No, we didn't. Drinking is probably the last thing you should be doing at the moment," Tim said.

"Says you. Come in. Come in," Kate ushered the two of them into the house and closed the door behind them, locking it before turning back to Tim and Dimitri again. "I've packed clothes, but if you think of anything else to grab for the girls then feel free."

"Please tell me packing includes your own suitcase, Kate," Dimitri said.

"I'm not going to be chased out of my own damn house, Dimitri! I've done nothing wrong here. If anyone's leaving because of this argument, it's him," Kate snapped. She moved around them and went deeper into the house, forcing Tim and Dimitri to follow her into the kitchen.

"Did any of the neighbors call in a domestic?" Tim asked.

"Yeah. You actually just missed the officers leaving," Kate replied. She sighed as she pulled a glass off a shelf above the wet bar and reached for the bottle of vodka stored on top of the cabinet. "It was as uncomfortable as I expected it to be. I've worked with those specific officers before."

"What's the damage?" Tim asked, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. Dimitri joined him, remaining quiet so far. They both watched Kate pull cranberry juice out of the mini fridge and make a drink before answering Tim.

"It didn't get physical, so they're not pressing charges against either of us, but the one officer requested that I text him as soon as Ethan gets home in case it does," Kate said. She let out a harsh laugh. "So they can set up a time line."

"I doubt it's going to get that far, Kate," Tim assured her.

"You'll have to forgive me for being cynical. My marriage isn't exactly in the best of conditions at the moment," Kate replied.

"Doll face, what do you need us to do?" Dimitri spoke up.

"Keep the girls away from this house. I know Tim's apartment isn't exactly big enough to hold four people, but I don't want either of them here while I'm dealing with this," Kate said, walking over to stand across from Tim and Dimitri at the breakfast bar.

"Mom and Dad will be more than happy to have Tabitha and Deidre stay at the manor. Don't worry about where we're going to keep them," Dimitri said.

Kate nodded, roughly wiping her face off before taking a long drink from her glass. Tim and Dimitri looked at each other, neither of them really knowing what to say next. The entire situation was just a cluster fuck.

"Listen, I know the both of you are worried about me at the moment, but I really just need you two to focus on keeping the girls away. I can handle Ethan by myself. He acts like a big man in the office, but I'm fully capable of kicking his ass if he tries to pull anything here," Kate said, breaking the silence.

"You call as soon as shit hits the fan. I will come fetch you, myself," Dimitri said evenly, not allowing room for argument.

"Still the knight in shining armor, Dimi. As always," Kate replied with a watery laugh.

"Me, too, Kate. I don't care if I'm at a crime scene or in the middle of going over evidence at the Yard. You need help, you call. Ethan isn't stupid enough to butt heads with an on-duty federal agent," Tim said.

"Tim, I'm not your jurisdiction," Kate pointed out.

"A technicality that I'm sure Ethan isn't willing to test," Tim replied.

Kate sighed and turned her head to look out the patio doors into the back yard. She wasn't used to Dimitri and Tim tag-teaming against her. Usually, one or the other was on her side.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "I'll call one of you if things with Ethan get worse than they already are."

"Need us to do anything while we're here? You've got free labor while it's available," Tim said.

"Oi, and just where do you get off offering my physical labor for free to someone else?" Dimitri cracked, grabbing at Tim to try and ruffle his hair.

Kate laughed and brought a hand to her face to cover it, shaking her head slowly when Tim slid off his stool and darted around the breakfast bar to hide behind her. It was a toss up on which pair was a bigger pain in Kate's ass; Tabitha and Deidre or Tim and Dimitri.


	22. Venting

"You're kidding me," Tony said, paying no mind to the toppings that slowly dropped off his slice of pizza as his grip on the slice went slack.

"Believe me, I wish I was Tony," Tim sighed. Explaining the whole Ethan Situation to the rest of the team so they had a head's up wasn't the easiest experience for him. Tim set his own slice down onto his plate and leaned back into his spot on his couch. "I had always considered Ethan a jackass, but I didn't think he'd cross a line like this."

"Yeah, well, don't let hindsight tear you down. Focus on what's happening right now, which is taking care of the twins while Brenton deals with her bitch of a husband," Tony said. He lifted his slice to take a bite and finally noticed its lack of toppings. Frowning, Tony set it down on his plate so he could transfer the toppings back onto it.

"Why do you keep on calling Kate by her last name?" Tim asked, jumping on the chance to change the topic.

"It's gonna be a while until I'm comfortable calling someone 'Kate' again, Tim. She knows this already, so don't worry about it," Tony explained. He gave Tim a look that said 'You are being obvious' and rolled his eyes. "How's Dimitri taking all of this?"

"As expected," Tim replied. He frowned from his failure to change the subject. "He wasn't too happy that he found out after me and Kate, but he got over that part quickly. Now he's gunning for a confrontation, and I have to keep that from happening while Kate deals with Ethan on her own. You know, sometimes it's a real pain in the ass that I'm one of the few who Dimitri listens to."

Tony let out a snort of amusement around the bite of pizza he was taking. He set the piece down on his plate and grabbed his napkin to wipe his mouth off before speaking.

"You just have one of those personalities, Tim. Everyone listens to you. They may not do as you say, but they still listen," Tony said.

Tim groaned and let his head fall backward onto the top of the couch. He didn't need that reminder. Everyone on the team was the same – they'd listen to what Tim was saying but did what they wanted to do, anyway.

"Yeah, well, I need Dimitri to do as I say this time. It's only a matter of time until Ethan finds out that Dimitri and I are together, and shit will hit the fan when Ethan does," Tim said.

"Don't be borrowing trouble just yet, Tim. One thing at a time. Right now, it's all about keeping Tab Soda and Dr. Evans away from Ethan," Tony insisted in a tone that said not to argue.

Tim lifted his head up to give Tony a confused look when what Tony said fully registered. It was obvious that the new nicknames applied to the girls, but Tim hadn't realized that Tony was interacting with them enough to start using said nicknames. Seeing the look on Tim's face, Tony sighed.

"I've been here at your apartment when they were also here how many times now? You know it doesn't take me long to give out nicknames," Tony said.

"What do they even mean, though?" Tim asked, still confused.

"Tab Soda should be obvious, McClueless," Tony cracked. He set his plate aside and grabbed his empty glass to take it with him to the kitchen for a refill.

"But who the hell is Dr. Evans?" Tim called to Tony's back.

Tony could be heard chuckling in Tim's kitchen. He took his time filling his glass, dragging the wait out until he was back at the couch with Tim. Tony gave Tim a grin in response to the irritated look Tim was giving him.

"Dr. Marlena Evans is a character on  _Days of Our Lives_. She's played by Deidre Hall," Tony finally explained.

"You and your references," Tim muttered, downing the rest of his own soda that he was now wishing was alcohol.

"Since you clearly want to change the subject away from the issue with Ethan," Tony said, taking pity on Tim. "How's the hunt for a house fairing? You or Dimitri finding any good listings?"

"DO NOT!" Tim began, freezing his hands where they were as he gave Tony a horrified look. "Do not bring it up! You'll make it worse!"

"It can't be  _that_  bad!" Tony insisted. He couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Do you even understand how difficult it is to narrow down listings when you can't even agree on which neighborhood to look in?" Tim hissed. "And then there's the style of the house. The size of the lot. Whether or not you want this to be a starter home. Deciding whether or not to consider a fixer-upper. I just want to pull my hair out over how many details Dimitri is nit-picking!"

The amusement on Tony's face grew with each passing word. It wasn't often he could trigger a full-on rant from Tim, but it was always entertaining when he did. And there was no mistaking that Tim was at wit's end when it came to house hunting. Tony wondered how long he could keep Tim going.

"Well, what have  _you_  been looking for when looking at listings?" Tony prodded.

"Move-in ready. As long as it has the space we need and is move-in ready, I literally do not care what it looks like or which neighborhood it was built in. I used to commute from Norfolk regularly, remember? I'm fine doing it again. And we will always have the ability to fix the aesthetics to what we want, so a crappy paint job is a non-issue," Tim continued. He groaned as he remembered his latest argument with Dimitri over listings. Dimitri had put his foot down on a semi-fixer-upper that was apparently too far from everyone else. Dimitri also refused to keep their bed downstairs while they finished fixing the walls in the upper floor.

"If that's all you care about, then what's the problem?" Tony asked, not seeing the issue.

"Every single damn time I make a suggestion that takes what Dimitri wants into account, he suddenly finds a reason to not like the house," Tim said through his teeth.

"Have I told you lately how much of a drama queen your boyfriend is?" Tony asked rhetorically.

"Why am I moving in with him again?" Tim countered with his own rhetorical question.

"Look, why don't you and Dimitri have a sit down with Gibbs? He'd work as a good mediator between you two on this. He'd also have a better idea on whether or not a fixer-upper is worth the risk if you can give him details on what is wrong. It'll be a win all around," Tony suggested. He took another bite of his pizza before it went cold.

"I know you're right, but Dimitri's been in a pissy mood lately. I'm not sure I wanna subject Gibbs to that," Tim admitted.

"The bossman is a big boy, Timmy. He can hold his own," Tony said as he reached forward to pat Tim on the shoulder.

Tim groaned in acknowledgment. He hated it when Tony was right and there was no way to argue against it. Out of everyone Tim knew, Gibbs  _was_  the best person to ask for advice on house hunting. However, Tim wasn't sure he could handle hearing Gibbs speak that many words in one sitting. It would surely use up Gibbs' word quota for the month. Groaning a second time, Tim let his head fall back onto his couch again.


End file.
